carbon fibre – challenges and benefits for use in wind ...€¦ · carbon fibre – challenges...

Carbon F ibre – Cha l lenges and Benef i ts for use in Wind Turbine B lade Des ign

1 ©Copyright STRUCTeam Ltd

Christopher Monk

Engineering Manager

STRUCTeam Ltd

Your composite Business lifecycle is our expertise

We can help you make better decisions, reduce costs, improve efficiency and develop appropriate technologies for your composite business.

2 © Copyright STRUCTeam Ltd

STRUCTeam Introduction

Independent Composite Consultancy

70+ Projects Completed since 2010 across various market sectors

We enable composite applications!

P ro j e c t I n t ro d u c t i o n

3 Copyright STRUCTeam Ltd

Key Partners ¤ Holding Company Composites - HCC

• Experts in Development and Supply of Carbon Materials and Product Forms across Industry Areas

¤ DNV-GL

• Experts in Turbine Development & Certification

Overall Objective ¤ Establish Baseline Blade Design for our

Wind Clients

• Blade design is scalable +/-5m and ‘tunable’ for given turbine data

• Decision Making Tool based upon Sound Business Case Assessment

• Understand and Quantify Benefits associated with Carbon Material use

C a r b o n F i b re u s e i n W i n d B l a d e s


Carbon Fibre is the material of choice for many Wind Energy OEMs when it comes to the development of large wind blades.

¤ Vestas, Gamesa, Enercon, AREVA and GE are all using Carbon fibre in Wind Blades

¤ Carbon allows

• Better Turbine Performance

• Reduction in Turbine Loads

¤ Wind OEMs need to

• Understand the business case

• Have Confidence in Quality

B l a d e S u p p l y C h a i n I n f l u e n c e


Blade Manufacturer 1

Blade Manufacturer 2

Blade Manufacturer n

Turbine manufacturer

Blade Designer

Integrated System Design to fully realise the value

This is not always structured in this way!

M a t e r i a l C h o i c e fo r W i n d B l a d e s


Typical Structural Architecture for Wind Blade

Choice between Carbon and Glass in Sparcaps and on Trailing Edge

Structurally Critical Areas – Confidence in Quality Essential

Trailing

Edge

Ro t o r B l a d e D e s i g n P ro c e s s


Aero Design

Structural Design

Component Surface Areas and

Bill of Materials

Carbon Material Commercial Data

Carbon Material Technical Data

Tooling Cost and Manufacturing

Cost Assessment

Glass Material Technical Data

Materials Cost and Supply

Chain Feasibility

Aero Performance Assessment

Overall Business Case Assessment

Turbine Data

STL HCC

Client

Turbine Load Assessment

Re s u l t s o f t h e S t u d y


Glass vs. Carbon Blade Comparison

Geometry Comparison ¤ Better Aero Performance

¤ Lower overall turbine loads

Glass Blade Carbon Blade Difference

Mass (tonnes) 35 26 -25%

Cost (k€) 190 244 +28%

O ve ra l l B u s i n e s s C a s e


C a r b o n v s G l a s s B l a d e – C A P E X C o s t s


0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000

Glass BladeRotor

Carbon BladeRotor

Turbine Component Cost Estimates (k€)

Comparison of Overall System Costs

Rotor Costs Nacelle Structure Balance of System Drive Train Tower Substructure

Overall Saving of 115k

€ per turbine (1-2%)

+16% -9% +1% -2% -7% -3%

C a r b o n v s G l a s s B l a d e – E n e r g y Y i e l d


Aero Benefit from Carbon vs Glass Blade:

¤ Thinner more slender blade gives overall lower loads on Turbine

¤ AEP is maintained or even slightly better than for glass (1.1% benefit at TSR=10)

Lower CAPEX + Increased AEP =

LOWER COST OF ENERGY

TSR Carbon Cp Annual mean Wind Speed

Carbon AEP (MWh)

Glass AEP (MWh)

% AEP Benefit

10 0.506 8 26476 26193 1.1%

C a r b o n v s G l a s s B l a d e B e n e f i t s – Fa r m L e ve l

© Copyright STRUCTeam Ltd 12

Reduced CAPEX + Higher Energy Yield = Lower Cost of Energy

¤ Apply Representative Cost Model to a 500MW Offshore Farm (83 Turbines)

¤ 33.7M € over 25 year life or 1.3M €/year saving for typical farm

-15000

-10000

-5000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Carbon BladesCost Premium

(3 Blades)

Direct Cost BenefitsFor Turbine fitted with

Carbon Blade(Includes premium of

Carbon Blades)

Estimated Operationalbenefits

For Turbine fitted withCarbon Blade

Pe

r W

ind

Far

m B

en

efit

(M€

)

CoE Benefit (Yr 21-24)





Turbine Cost Saving

Carbon Investment

9.5M €

33.7M €

Overall benefit is 43.2M €

C a r b o n v s G l a s s B l a d e - D e s i g n F l ex i b i l i t y


Blades are often designed as a Hybrid Glass/Carbon solution

Tune the overall rotor mass and blade price point to exact turbine capacity

Client to take the

decision on

where to draw

this line

C a r b o n v s G l a s s B l a d e – E n a b l i n g L a rge r Ro t o r


Keep rotor mass same but increase size

10% load reduction allows 3% larger rotor

1.5% overall increase energy production

Much more competitive product offering ¤ Lower CoE from higher energy output per turbine

¤ Fewer turbines per farm

A c h i e v i n g C o n f i d e n c e i n Q u a l i t y


Design for Manufacture to ensure quality

Repeatable and Robustness product and process:

¤ Material format

¤ Ability to inspect/control the finished product

Very large volume due to sheer scale of the product

¤ Supply chain robustness and longevity

C o n c l u s i o n s


There are opportunities for further use of carbon fibre in wind

Enabling the Application requires ¤ Thorough Examination of Business Case

¤ Adaptable Designs considered as integrated system

Confidence In Quality ¤ Product Forms Developed With Manufacturing Process Engineers and

Blade Designers

Q u e st i o n s a n d C o m m e n t s


Christopher Monk

Engineering Manager

[email protected]

00 44 1983 240 534

00 44 7718 425 240

mailto:[email protected]



carbon fibre – challenges and benefits for use in wind ...€¦ · carbon fibre – challenges...

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