Design, manufacturing method and prototype testing of an extremely lightweight Offshore Wind blade

Offshore wind blades are being redesigned as lightweight, textile-based composites to cut the cost of renewable energy. Today’s offshore wind turbine blades are heavy, expensive to manufacture, and limit how large turbines can get. The ACT Blade uses a patented modular textile composite and a novel manufacturing process to produce blades that are significantly lighter than conventional ones. A patent-pending load control system also boosts blade efficiency and durability. If the prototype succeeds, lighter blades will allow developers to build larger turbines without proportionally increasing weight and cost. That would lower the levelised cost of energy (LCOE)—the price per unit of electricity generated—making offshore wind more competitive with fossil fuels. The consortium, led by ACT Blade and including the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and three advanced manufacturing centres, brings decades of composites and industrial testing experience to the project. This is applied engineering with a clear commercial goal: design, manufacture, test, and validate a scaled prototype. Success would quietly reshape the economics of offshore wind farms, reducing the cost of the electricity that powers homes and industry.