Solution provider
Polytech improves blade performance and protects wind turbine components from wear and tear. Onshore. Offshore.
Case
Offshore wind
Onshore wind
Wind energy
+1
Ensuring wind blade durability with leading edge protection
27. December 2023
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Challenge
As rotor blades get longer, the tip speed of the blades becomes faster. And with wind turbines being erected in ever-tougher and increasingly remote locations — including offshore sites — this only makes leading-edge erosion more of a problem. Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie forecasts that the money spent repairing leading edges globally will surpass one billion dollars per year by the end of the decade.
Solution
Following intense product development and thorough field and lab tests, in 2016 PolyTech unveiled a brand-new type of protection: ELLE™ – Everlasting Leading Edge. As the name suggests, ELLE™ was built to ensure that the leading edge of the wind turbine blades will last the operational lifetime.
ELLE™ consists of polyurethane shells that can be applied both in the factory and retrofitted on the wind turbine blades.
Result
Leading edge protection of your wind turbine blades will enhance blade performance, reduce your operating costs, and improve the levelized cost of energy.
In 2023, DNV verified ELLE™’s erosion strength, risk of delamination, all test results and estimated lifetime durability according to DNV-RP-0573. As such, ELLE™ is currently the only LEP solution on the market verified by DNV, providing lifetime protection against erosion.
