Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has begun building a giant new blade test stand on which it will trial the 94-metre-long model that will be flown by its 10MW SG10.0-193DD offshore wind turbine.
Being set up at the OEM's complex in Aalborg, Denmark, the rig, said by SGRE to be capable of performing “full-scale tests on the next generations of SGRE rotor blades”, is expected to be operational “before the end of 2019”.
“The first tests will be on the 94-metre-long blade, which is almost the same length as one soccer field,” said Vicente García Muñoz, head of validation means management at SGRE, adding: “We are however building the test stand to accommodate the blade sizes that we will see in the future.”
The OEM said the rig, the cost of which was not disclosed, would “represent additional savings for SGRE’s clients in the future”.
“Such high value-adding R&D activities enable the company to significantly reduce the risk of technical issues and simultaneously deliver wind turbines that are innovative and reliable.”
The new SG 10.0-193 DD, the launch of which was revealed exclusively in Recharge, is being brought to the sector to “bridge market demand” until the OEM’s “true step change”, the as-yet-unnameplated ‘1X’ platform, is in showroom in 2024-25, said SGRE CEO Markus Tacke at the time.
