Much of the challenge for wind energy investors is that wind turbine technology is a capital-intensive industry. The capital costs of a wind power project can be broken down into several categories, where 13% is attributable to rotor blades, which become decisive in reducing costs. In order to increase the efficiency further, and to extract more energy, the trend is to make the turbines larger. However, as the length of current rotor blades increase, their associated cost and weight increase at a faster rate than the turbine’s potential power output, not being economically viable to produce turbines beyond a certain size. Furthermore, as blades get longer they are becoming increasingly difficult to manufacture and transport. In sum, the technical and commercial performance of wind turbines is currently limited by the rotor blade technology and to overcome this problem new design approaches and/or new materials and standardisation of production processes are needed. Leveraging on this market opportunity, Winfoor (WF) and Marstrom Composite (MC) are partnering to develop and introduce a new and ground-breaking technology to the wind energy market. The novel technology, Triblade, is a “3-in-1 blade” that will allow rotor blades to double current size and to reduce 80% weight, whilst reducing around 70% production costs and increasing ease of transport and installation. Commercialisation of Triblade will allow global wind manufacturers to produce larger and more efficient turbines, with simpler installation process and shorter time to market. The companies hold complementary skills, expertise and roles required to market this unique technology, being well positioned to guide Triblade to a sustained market entry and ceasing a market opportunity for an accumulated turnover of approx. €87 million in a period of 5 years.

Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source in Europe, accounting for 10.2% of total electricity in 2015, however there is still a need to reduce the overall cost of energy – CoE to increase its competitiveness. The capital costs represents 78% of CoE and can be broken down into several categories, with around 54% attributable to wind turbine, from which the blades represents 30%. CoE can be reduced by maximizing energy production for the site by installing larger turbines. However, as the length of current rotor blades increase, their associated cost and weight increase at a faster rate than the turbine’s power output. Furthermore, as blades get longer they are becoming increasingly more difficult to manufacture and transport setting the limit at 90m. Winfoor (WF) and Marstrom (MC) aim to pursue this market opportunity by bringing to market its innovative and ground-breaking blade technology – Triblade. Triblade is a “3-in-1” modular blade, built as a Composite Material Truss that will allow rotor blades to be longer (up to 50%), stiffer (up to 290%) and lighter (up to 78%), whilst reducing around 65.2% production costs and increasing ease of transport and installation resulting in up to 15.5% CoE reduction. These are game changing improvements that can play an important role in driving the development of next generation of larger turbines and accelerate the transition to greater use of renewables worldwide. TRIBLADE project is expected to significantly enhance WF&MC’s profitability, with expected accumulated revenue of €85M and profits of €40M, 6 years after commercialization. Moreover, the successful achievement of TRIBLADE objectives is expected to assist Europe in achieving objectives to secure a sustainable energy system based on a low-carbon electricity from wind. This project will therefore entail increased competitiveness for the SME value chain and for the EU as a whole.