German material manufacturer Covestro announced that it has delivered its first commercial order of polyurethane resin for wind turbine blades to a Chinese customer. The blades were manufactured by Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology Co., Ltd., one of China’s largest wind blade manufacturers, and delivered to complete machine manufacturer Envision Energy (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. According to the plan, this batch of wind turbine blades will be installed in a wind farm in East China in July this year.
The main beams and webs of this batch of 18 59.5-meter-long polyurethane fan blades are manufactured by Times New Materials using polyurethane resin provided by Covestro. This batch of blades has been successfully delivered to Envision Energy, marking the successful deployment of the innovative polyurethane resin developed by Covestro for wind turbine blades in commercial wind farm projects.
To complete the order, the Covestro team also manufactured a prototype of the fan blade, which successfully passed the static and fatigue tests. In 2018, the prototype started trial operation at a wind farm in central China.
Covestro announced that it has delivered its first commercial order of polyurethane resin for wind blades to a Chinese customer
Polyurethane Resin——Epoch-breaking Innovation
Dr. Ulrich Liman, Head of Global R&D of Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit, said: “Covestro is very honored to cooperate with Envision and Times New Materials to complete China’s first commercial order for polyurethane wind turbine blades The application of polyurethane resin to the field of wind turbine blades is an epoch-making innovation that is the result of the joint efforts of Covestro’s global teams. We will adhere to the vision of Covestro and devote ourselves to producing products that benefit society and improve the lives of people all over the world. “
Liang Zilu, Deputy Chief Engineer of Wind Power Products of Times New Materials, said: “Compared with epoxy resin, polyurethane, an innovative material, has advantages in terms of production cost and production process. Our cooperation with Covestro began in 2016 and is now It has reached the level of mass production. We hope to further deepen our cooperation with Covestro to explore the R&D and production of large-scale fan blades and all-polyurethane fan blades.”
Excellent Performance
Covestro provides longer wind turbine blades for the wind power industry by developing polyurethane infusion resins. Fan blades are generally made of glass fiber reinforced resin through vacuum infusion technology. The successful application of polyurethane composite materials in the manufacture of large wind turbine blades shows that polyurethane resin itself has excellent mechanical properties and fatigue resistance. In addition, the material cures faster and has better processability, helping wind blade manufacturers increase productivity.
According to the statistics of the World Wind Energy Association, by the end of 2018, China’s installed wind power capacity reached 221 GW, making it the world’s largest wind power market. [1] Talking about the development prospects of polyurethane resin in the field of wind power, Dr. Li Qian, vice president of R&D Asia Pacific of Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit, said: “This is the first step for the wind energy industry to realize the transformation from polyurethane resin material innovation to industrialization. Polyurethane materials open up entirely new fields of application. We are convinced that Covestro polyurethane solutions can offer significant advantages in blade production in the wind power value chain.”
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