WIND READY TO GO GIGANTIC

Sandia National Laboratories: A 50-MW turbine requires a rotor blade more than 650 feet (200 meters) long, two and a half times longer than existing wind blades

January 28, 2016 (Network World)

“US researchers at Sandia National Laboratories say they are working on a design for gigantic wind turbine blades that are longer than two football fields which could support 50-megawatt-- more than six times the power output of the largest current turbines --offshore wind farms in the future…[M]ost US wind turbines produce power in the 1- to 2-MW range, with blades about 165 feet (50 meters) long, while the largest commercially available turbine is rated at 8 MW with blades 262 feet (80 meters) long. A 50-MW turbine requires a rotor blade more than 650 feet (200 meters) long, two and a half times longer than any existing wind blade…Such exascale blades could be cost-effectively manufactured [and transported] in segments…The exascale turbines – called Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotors (SUMR)-- would be positioned downwind, unlike conventional turbines that are configured with the rotor blades upwind of the tower…” click here for more

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