As rotor blades get longer, the tip speed becomes faster. And with wind turbines being erected in ever-tougher and increasingly remote locations — including offshore sites — this only makes leading edge erosion more of a problem. A forecast by the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie projects that, by the end of the decade, the money spent repairing leading edges will surpass one billion dollars per year.
With such dire prospects, we at Polytech decided it was high time to reinvent leading edge protection. And in 2017 — following intense product development and thorough field and lab tests — we were able to unveil a brand-new type of protection: ELLE™ – Everlasting Leading Edge.
As the name suggests, ELLE™ was built to last the lifetime of your turbine, effectively putting an end to leading edge erosion. By preventing damages that would otherwise result in poorer aerodynamic performance and harm the structural integrity of your blades, ELLE™ will save you numerous service calls for repairs or replacements. The bottom line of this is increased annual energy production (AEP) and lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE).
The ELLE™ solution consists of pre-cast sections made of robust yet soft and flexible polyurethane shells. The shell’s surface is designed and dimensioned to absorb the kinetic energy from rain, hail and airborne particles. As such, the shell provides optimal protection for the rigid fiberglass surface of the blade. The shell pattern is custom-made for each individual blade to ensure an optimal fit. And since we want as many turbines as possible to benefit from ELLE™, we made sure it can be applied in the factory or retrofitted to your installed base within a wide application window. In short, when it comes to ending leading edge erosion, nobody does it better than ELLE™.
