China’s TMT launches PU wind turbine blade

Zhuzhou, Hunan – Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology (TMT) has developed a 2.2 MW wind turbine rotor blade using polyurethane resin. The company’s Guangming Factory in Zhuzhou, Hunan made the first blades last September.

The new blade is 59.5m long and weighs 13.5T. ‘The new polyurethane blade has better traction properties, greater flexibility and higher compression modulus,’ said TMT’s announcement. ‘The amount required for infusion is clearly reduced, and time for the infusion and hardening process is raised by 40%.’

Compared to the conventional epoxy material, polyurethane resin also has lower VOCs and lighter weight, the announcement added.

TMT generates CNY 3bn ($472m) in annual sales from wind turbine blades. The company started the research on blades using new materials in 2016. It is one of the first Chinese companies to have made such breakthrough.

In April the company also joined forces with China’s National University of Defence Technology and Xiangtan University to develop a smart monitoring system for the blades.

China currently has 100,000 wind turbine in operation at over 500 wind farms, the total installed power pegged at 169m kw. The country aims to raise the number to 210m kw by 2020.

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