NEWIND - Advanced Technologies in Wind power Production

Project Description

The project aims to develop technological solutions to different needs of the wind industry:

• Structural lightening wind turbine blades
• Automation and optimization of manufacturing processes of windmill blades
• Improvement of the aerodynamics of the blades
• Monitoring the structural integrity of the blades
• Developing a monitoring system for independent blade pitch
• Development of protective materials against atmospheric agents
• Development of an inhibitor-ray system
• Developing efficient electrolyzes to generate hydrogen from the leftover generated

All solutions developed will be validated through their actual deployment in two wind turbines installed in the field.

All solutions developed will be validated through their deployment in two wind turbines installed in a real place.

Collaborating Companies or Organisations

Indra's Role

Indra, as project partner of Newind, carries out activities aimed to achieve three objectives:
1. Developing a control system independent blade pitch based on real-time metering of the structural efforts incurred by the blades
2. Development of a system for monitoring the structural integrity of the blades (SHM)
3. Improved quality control of the manufacturing process of the blades using of the embedded metering systems in blades

Universities and Technological Centres

Technologies used

• Hybrid structural composites
• RTM (Resin Transfer Molding)
• VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding)
• Polyfunctional Materials
• Electro-ceramic Materials
• Inhibitor Systems to avoid the creation of rays
• Fiber Optics
• Damage detection techniques (Lamb wave propagation, OBR, Differential Strains, Bragg Diffraction Networks)
• Advanced Algorithms oriented to wind turbine control
• Embedded Systems

More information

This project is sponsored by the Spanish Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within 2007-2013 Technological Fund.