Development of a Novel Solution for Leading Edge Erosion on Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

In recent years, wind energy has become a leading source of renewable energy as the world strives to remove its reliance on fossil fuels. With the growing demand for wind energy, wind farms have begun to move offshore and the size of the average wind turbine has increased (up to 10 MW). However, as a result of these advances, additional challenges are presented – one of the most significant being leading edge erosion on wind turbine blades. This erosion requires additional maintenance, while lowering a turbine’s annual energy production by up to 25%, which needs to be eliminated, or significantly reduced, if offshore wind energy is to become competitive within global energy markets. To this end, in this paper, the methodology proposed in LEAPWind, a new collaborative European research project, which aims to prevent blade leading-edge erosion by employing advanced composite materials and innovative manufacturing processes has been presented. An advanced thermoplastic-epoxy composite material is used to manufacture a leading edge component for a wind turbine blade. The critical technical stages, including material identification and characterisation, component design and manufacture have been discussed. Additionally, the details relating to de-risking of the novel technologies through mechanical and rain erosion testing, and full-scale operational trials on a 2.1 MW wind turbine, located in an onshore wind farm in Portugal, has been included. The results of this study, will not only have social and economic benefits, but also a significant environmental impact as it will allow for the manufacture of a more sustainable wind turbine blade.