Creating Pathways to Success for Supersized Wind Turbine Blades: 2018 Workshop Summary Report
- DNV KEMA Renewables, Inc., Seattle, WA (United States)
A workshop on Pathways to Success for Supersized Wind Turbine Blades was conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C., on March 6-7, 2018. Approximately 40-50 experts and industry stakeholders came together for the event, including manufacturers, transportation specialists, project developers, operators, engineering firms, consultants, and university researchers. Technical experts from the national laboratories and WETO were also present to engage in discussions about solving the challenges faced by supersized wind turbine blades. The workshop attendees participated in evaluating the current status of wind turbine blade design, manufacture, transportation, erection and operation, identifying constraints to cost-effective application of current technologies and methods for blades of increasing size, and discussing needs and opportunities for research, development and deployment of materials, manufacturing, structural configuration, and transportation. The workshop was one step within a larger initiative to identify specific R&D opportunities DOE could pursue to address technical barriers or implementation challenges faced by the U.S. wind energy industry to achieve continued decreases in LCOE. Following a plenary session, the 2-day workshop featured three group discussion sessions, with each session focusing on a specific “pathway” to enabling LCOE reductions for rotor blades of increasing size. The three pathways considered were “on-site manufacture,” “transport,” and “hybrid and alternative,” which included various options involving central manufacturing of sub-elements following on-site assembly. Each of the pathway group discussions was opened with a short presentation from one or more invited speakers, followed by an open discussion with balanced input from stakeholder groups and individuals. Participation among the workshop attendees was considered highly productive. Experts and stakeholders were engaged throughout the sessions and offered significant insights into the challenges and potential enabling technologies for supersized blades. Discussion highlights and take-aways for the three pathways are described.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1439243
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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