Lessons Learned from Recent Blade Failures: Primary Causes and Risk-Reducing Technologies

In recent years numerous leading wind turbine manufacturers have been affected by significant blade problems, ranging from catastrophic failures to extensive remediation and retrofit campaigns. These problems have contributed to negative perceptions of wind energy both in the financial and public arenas, and resulted in substantial commercial losses to both manufacturers and developers/owners. DNV has extensive involvement in these issues from the standpoint of technical due diligence, structural testing, manufacturing and quality-system reviews, field inspection, and support of root-cause analyses and remediation campaigns. While details of these projects are proprietary, the authors have compiled general lessons learned from these experiences and offer specific strategies for minimizing and managing blade failure risk.