New Wind Turbine for Offshore Use is an Engineering Milestone

Correspondent Derek Armstrong

Maine — 100 mph winds, fifty foot waves and raging salt water hundreds of feet deep make wind turbines offshore a major engineering challenge, met head on by the Advanced Engeered Wood Composites Center researchers at the University of Maine. Wind turbines off shore promise major clean power, especially if the turbine can be constructed with blades hundreds of feet long.

The director of the center, Habib Dagher works with many companies on breakthrough wind turbine technology for use in these extreme conditions, designing to a goal of at least a tower standing three hundred feed over the surface of the ocean. The turbines would average almost twice the size of the largest land-based turbines, and must endure far worse conditions, possibly even hurricane-strength storms. Salt water also takes a toll, causing rapid corrosion on metal sufaces, making fiberglass, woods and carbon fibers the correct choice—assuming the materials can stand up to ocean winds.

Dagher’s team is testing blades made of fiberglass, woods and carbon fiber. The composite makes the blades light, while the carbon fiber makes it stronger than steel.

The team is also researching new ways to build the towers offshore, including inflatable platforms injected with resins as strong as concrete. This will eliminate expensive and dangerous transportation of finished platforms.

If the engineering vision is accomplished, offshore windfarms can provide substantial clean power.