As we all know, Renewable are facing a tough challenge of cost cutting, which is leading all of the Renewable equipments manufacturers to run for cost cutting initiatives.
Even the Industrial Giant GE is not different. GE, the major supplier of Wind Turbines in North America has faced quite tough cost crunches, as the prices of Renewable energy is dipping in a rapid pace, which is leading the company to introduce new technologies which will drastically reduce the cost of production of Wind Turbines.
Recently GE has forced hands with US National Energy Laboratory, popularly known as NREL (link), and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the State University to develop a new Wind turbine blade which is less costlier compared to the current technologies like fiberglass and stronger Carbon fiber.
What Material will be the Blade Made off?
The Answer really amuses us. It's actually Fabrics (Image 1). But Fabrics aren't new in the construction world. A lot of new industrial grade fabrics are used in the construction of buildings in US (Image 2). The Fabrics are expected to be wrapped around the blade frames and also reinforcing them with structural ribs.
GE also said that the new material will introduce a significant cost reduction in Blade manufacturing, bringing down the cost by 25-40%.
"GE’s weaving an advanced wind blade that could be the fabric of our clean energy future.
"The fabric we’re developing will be tough, flexible, and easier to assemble and maintain. It represents a clear path to making wind even more cost competitive with fossil fuels." said Wendy Lin, GE principal engineer and leader for the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) project.
For any Quires please contact: rprabhu@renewindians.com
Even the Industrial Giant GE is not different. GE, the major supplier of Wind Turbines in North America has faced quite tough cost crunches, as the prices of Renewable energy is dipping in a rapid pace, which is leading the company to introduce new technologies which will drastically reduce the cost of production of Wind Turbines.
Recently GE has forced hands with US National Energy Laboratory, popularly known as NREL (link), and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the State University to develop a new Wind turbine blade which is less costlier compared to the current technologies like fiberglass and stronger Carbon fiber.
What Material will be the Blade Made off?
The Answer really amuses us. It's actually Fabrics (Image 1). But Fabrics aren't new in the construction world. A lot of new industrial grade fabrics are used in the construction of buildings in US (Image 2). The Fabrics are expected to be wrapped around the blade frames and also reinforcing them with structural ribs.
GE also said that the new material will introduce a significant cost reduction in Blade manufacturing, bringing down the cost by 25-40%.
"GE’s weaving an advanced wind blade that could be the fabric of our clean energy future."The fabric we’re developing will be tough, flexible, and easier to assemble and maintain. It represents a clear path to making wind even more cost competitive with fossil fuels." said Wendy Lin, GE principal engineer and leader for the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) project.
For any Quires please contact: rprabhu@renewindians.com
