Voodin's wooden turbine blades aim to solve recycling woes
Opponents of wind energy frequently highlight the recycling difficulties surrounding wind turbine blades. The German company Voodin Blade Technology has decided to address this problem by introducing wooden blades to the market. The first of these wooden blades has already been installed on a turbine.
5:01 PM EDT, May 18, 2024
While wind power plants enable the production of cheap and clean electricity, they do have a significant drawback: recycling turbine blades. Standard blades are tough to recycle, which often leads to them being either buried or stored, hoping scientists will eventually develop a method for their reuse. There is also the notion of repurposing parts of the blades as architectural and construction elements. Scientists from Gdańsk University of Technology are amongst those working on strategies to reuse these blades.
Voodin Blade Technology introduces wooden turbine blades to the market
The German company Voodin Blade Technology is taking a different approach to solving the problem of recycling turbine blades. They plan to introduce wood-based wind turbine blades, which can be fully recycled.
According to interestingengineering.com, these wooden blades from Voodin Blade Technology were first installed in May. The 63-foot-long blades were mounted on a wind turbine within a Breuna, central Germany wind farm.
What are the advantages of wooden wind turbine blades?
Wooden blades may be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than their plastic counterparts. These blades are made from laminated veneer lumber and machined by CNC routers, eliminating the need for special moulds. The company claims this is an efficient and inexpensive production method that allows for creating blades in any shape.
Additional benefits may be associated with wooden wind turbine blades. Firstly, they can likely be produced closer to the wind farms, thereby reducing the transportation costs involved in building them.
Will wooden blades turn out to be better than those made of fiberglass?
Jorge Castillo, co-founder of Voodin Blade Technology, reported that the company conducted numerous laboratory tests over two years. These tests were intended to demonstrate that wooden blades could be competitive with traditional fiberglass blades.
According to Castillo, the tests showed that wooden blades are more durable than fiberglass ones, as they possess fewer fatigue properties and withstand all weather conditions on land very well.
Voodin plans to build larger blades, aiming for lengths of 197 and 262 feet, which could be used in larger power plants.
