China unveils the largest onshore wind turbine blade in the world

The largest onshore wind turbine blade in world history has been manufactured in China. Each foil is 131 meters long, enough to dwarf Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty.

Once installed in central China in the coming months, each structure containing a 15-megawatt turbine and three blades will be more than 260 meters in diameter.

The SY1310A onshore wind turbine blades were manufactured by SANY Renewable Energy at its factory in Bayannur, northern China.

The company said in a statement that the longer blade length increases requirements for stiffness and strength, as well as the need for protection from extreme weather events such as lightning strikes.

“Several advanced innovations have been applied to this blade, including a high-performance airfoil with a thick, blunt trailing edge, an optimized airfoil layout, and increased overall thickness.” .

Peter Majewski Researchers at the University of South Australia say the advantage of such large wind turbines is that the larger they are, the fewer turbines are needed. “But the bigger they are, the more visible they are, so it has to be socially acceptable to build such large structures,” he says.

“These are huge structures that are expensive to build and just as expensive to remove.”

Wind turbine blades may continue to grow in size, but the logistics of transporting such huge blades make their use difficult, Majewski said. It also says manufacturers and society need to consider what will happen to these structures as they age.

Majewski is researching the issue of recycling wind turbine blades.in 2022 surveyHe and his colleagues predicted that tens of thousands of tons of wind farm blades could have to go to landfill by 2050, when existing turbines reach the end of their 20- to 30-year lifespans.

However, he welcomed the use of recycled polyurethane as part of the construction of these newly announced blades.