Wood Wind Turbines to Bring New Era in Wind Energy Industry

While wind energy is a renewable solution to solve the energy crisis, wind turbines have long posed a pollution problem as they can’t be used or recycled. Well, many manufacturers have been looking to create sustainable and environmentally- friendly turbine blades. To that accord, Voodin Blade Technology and Stora Enso have partnered for developing sustainable wood wind turbines. They are working together to create new all-wood turbine blades.

The first 20-meter blade will be created using Stora Enso’s LVL which is a mass timber product and is known to deliver a good load-bearing capacity that supports rotary blades. As per the agreement signed between the two companies, they are looking forward to developing sustainable options for wind turbine blades in order to create a reliable and competitive supply chain.

Both companies are manufacturing and installing 20 m blades for a 0.5 Mega Watt turbine and they are working together to develop an 80 m blade. Voodin Blades is a start-up company based in Germany that develops sustainable rotor blades for wind turbines.Stora Enso is one of the leading worldwide suppliers of mass timber products which includes construction material that suits wind power construction and laminated veneer lumber (LVL).

The partnership is backed by Stora Enso’s strategy to offer state-of-the-art groundbreaking solutions to substitute less environmentally-friendly construction materials with ones that are renewable and particularly made out of wood.

Image: Power and Energy Solutions

Lars Völkel, the Executive Vice President of the Wood Products Division at Stora Enso commented that considering the ongoing energy crisis and quite ambitious carbonization goals, wind energy is in huge demand. By partnering with Voodin Blades, Stora Enso has been able to further push its ability to advance a competitive and sustainable supply chain for the progressing market of wind turbine blades.

The wind power blades are mostly manufactured using fiberglass, non-renewable plastics and carbon fiber sourced from petrochemicals, making them difficult to recycle. The majority of such blades are discarded in landfills. Stora Enso and Voodin Blades have developed blades using wood as a sustainable option. These blades are light in weight and brought a reduction in dependency on fossil fuel extraction.

Joachim Knapp, the mechanical engineer and automation expert at Voodin Blades commented that the wind industry is one of the major drivers when it comes to carbon neutrality and therefore it must become 100% sustainable and environmentally friendly. By installing 20 m blades, both companies have created pathways to more sustainability in the future.

Stora Enso is sourcing 100% sustainable wood for the blades. The maiden 20 m blade will be formed using Stora Enso’s LVL which is a mass timber product having high load-bearing capacity. It supports large-scale rotary blades easily which is not possible with steel and concrete. LVL is so lightweight that it can be easily transported on-site and does not require heavy-duty machinery. The first 20 m blade will be installed near Warburg, Germany this year on a 0.5-megawatt turbine.

Apart from Voodin Blades, Stora Enso has also partnered with Modvion which is a wood technology company. This further enhances their vision to establish wood as one of the choices to build turbine towers.

Via: Woodworking Network