New blade sensor technology to limit strain and lower costs

“The complete iRotor solution is now ready for full-scale testing in Østerild. KK Wind Solutions has installed the electrical components of the iRotor solution and the infrastructure, enabling us to collect data. We now look forward to start testing and verifying the solution together with LM Wind Power and Envision,” says René Balle, Chief Technology Officer at KK Wind Solutions. The project is a joint effort between LM Wind Power, KK Wind Solutions, PolyTech and University of Aalborg and has been partly funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. Envision has agreed to test the technology on their turbine at Østerild in Denmark. “This project is an example of a successful and close collaboration on technology innovation between leading companies in the wind industry supply chain, research institutions and Innovation Fund Denmark,” says Project Manager Claus Byskov, LM Wind Power. The research project has a total budget of DKK 65 million (EUR 8.71 million) of which DKK 33 million (EUR 4.42 million) is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. The project was launched in June 2013 and is scheduled to run for three and a half years. “Everybody in the industry aims at lowering the cost of wind energy and through this joint effort we prove that by combining different fields of expertise we can break technological boundaries which would not be feasible financially or technologically as individual players,” says René Balle.