Wind Power sector is currently facing a dramatic problem which is shattering all wind blades over 50 m and causes losses between €100 million and €130 million a year across the European wind fleet.
As a consequence of the high speed reached at the tip of the wind blades when the rotor spins, the leading edge of the wind blades is eroding much faster than expected due to the effect of the rain, dust and suspended particles.
Blade erosion reduces the annual energy production of a wind turbine by between 4% and 20%, depending on the level and severity of the erosion. Repairing costs of a set of 3 blades is estimated in a minimum of € 50,000 in onshore wind farms and about twice this amount in off-shore facilities.
Blade erosion is now the largest issue, affecting all WT types and wind energy operators and it is directly related to the increase of the Levelised cost of Energy (LCoE).
Aerox Advanced Polymers SL (AEROX), a Spanish SME whose activity is focused on the development of innovative coating and adhesive solutions for the manufacture of wind blades, developed in 2016 a breakthrough technology which allows the manufacturing of polymeric materials with extraordinary erosion resistance.
After two years of work, in AEROX we have created under our proprietary technology a coating solution which, according to independent standard performance tests, is able to protect the leading edge of wind blades during the 25-years expected lifespan.
The main objective of the project consists in scaling-up the manufacturing and application processes of AEROX AHP LEP system, the improvement of the technology as well as the validation of the solution with OEMs, blade manufacturers and service companies.
