The modular, light-weight and easily transportable blades, which maximise the energy output of their turbines, are well suited to the low-wind regimes found along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, Carnevale said. Special protection along the leading edge of the blade should also help guard against damage from sand storms.
Blade Dynamics has a manufacturing site in the US and will open an assembly facility in the UK by the end of the year to build an 80-metre-long blade linked to the Energy Technologies Institute-backed project to develop a 100-metre blade.
Modular design
Traditional blade manufacture involves main composite components like the upper and lower shells and inner reinforcements made to their full length before further final assembly.
Blade Dynamics, in contrast, manufactures its blades split into relatively short, easy to handle, individual components that can fit into standard 40-foot (12-metre) containers.
These smaller parts are easier to make at very high quality, according to the company. A series of relatively uncomplicated moulds are used for the individual inner and outer parts, with assembly done in laser-aligned jigs that are easy to install and dismantle again.
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