I would mention two major topics here. First, the development of carbon blades is well extended among all the OEMs. During the last ten years we have seen that wind turbine blades keep growing longer and the use of CFRP for blades that exceed nowadays, by far, the 100m of length is critical from a structural point of view. The development times for these new blades is extremely short, considering the complexity of the structures and the requirements they must meet to operate in very demanding environments, such as offshore sites with extreme weather conditions. These short development times turns the new assets into real engineering challenges from the point of view of structurally well-performing blades that must accommodate lightning protection systems that keep them safe from the higher lightning exposure they will be subject to due to growing sizes and changing environments.

Secondly, I think that keeping in shape existing assets that have been in operation for about half of their lifetime is becoming more and more relevant. The investment that having new wind power plants require, makes it a must to ensure that the health of the assets remains, and they can keep in operation. However, the blades are constantly subject to mechanical fatigue and exposed to threats like lightning. So, the correct service strategies for existing assets is of capital importance. The use of condition monitoring not only for new blades but as a retrofit in operating turbines will be necessary for ensuring that field failures are captured in due time and excessive maintenance OPEX and downtime are avoided.

The combined experience of our team in the fields of lightning physics, electrical and mechanical engineering, testing and validation ,etc. adds up to more than 100 years of knowledge. When we engage in a project, we put everything we have on the table to make sure that the outcome is not only something that can be certified, but something that will simply work. We understand the needs, we understand the challenges, and we understand the constraints our customers see every day. Developing lightning protection systems for wind turbine blades is a whole exercise of different engineering disciplines combined. With the right competences and commitment in place, the result is a solution that meets the demands of the tough environment out there. We keep improving, and we keep adapting. Natural environments are changing, and we must be ready to face those challenges.

Lightning is not new, and it is not now that the wind power industry has been affected by it and in high need for efficient solutions that ensure durability and reliability of the assets. The lightning protection standard for wind turbines has been in constant development for the last 15 years and it is moving towards its third edition. There is a constant need for improvements in this field, and for more accurate knowledge about the physics of the phenomenon and its way of affecting wind turbines and blade specifically. There is a real need for moving forward with the energy transition, and that will be translated into an unprecedented population of wind turbines that will face these challenges all over the world. But the energy transition will find challenges in terms of the reliability of the machines and blades. On top of design or production related challenges, there are the ones related to the natural environment to which the blades are exposed to. This where we make a difference. Only through a deep understanding of the underlying physics of lightning, how lightning and thunderstorm weather interact with wind turbines, and a vast accumulated expertise in electrical engineering can we tackle these challenges and overcome the with efficient lightning protection system designs.

Blade performance in the field is a critical challenge. The operational cost of wind turbines with larger blades and technology that is more complex to maintain (i.e. repairs in CFRP structures) can simply be sky high if we do not have eyes onsite to make fast decisions and prevent failures from developing into something that requires a full blade swap. When we look at the offshore case, it is even more dramatic. The cost includes not only inspection and repair, but sending ships and crews, the downtime of this workforce when they are offshore due to weather conditions, the downtime of the wind turbines themselves when they must be stopped due to damaged blades, etc.

Our expertise focuses on one of the critical challenges of the industry: lightning. Larger wind turbines are more exposed to lightning simply by the size of the assets. Moreover, the lightning environment in an area where the wind turbines will operate changes by the sole presence of these tall structures, and an increased amount of lightning strikes, which wouldn’t have occurred without the turbines, takes place in the form of upward lightning. This is translated into the need for efficient lightning protection systems that are exposed to strikes more often and may require more regular inspection due to this higher exposure and that are well coordinated with the blade designs and materials. It is also translated into the need for accurate monitoring systems that can help asset owners prevent damages develop into catastrophic.