How Big Are the Blades of a Wind Turbine?

There are due to the complicated composition of materials required, especially for larger turbines. But it still costs less to make one large turbine than numerous smaller turbines. Larger blades mean smaller wind farms with fewer turbines, which With old blades piling up in landfills, having a few large turbines per wind farm will make wind energy more sustainable.

For typical 1.5 MW turbines, you can expect a blade length between 35 and 45 meters, with a total rotor diameter between 75 and 100 meters.

Blade Size

1.5 MW turbines are typically about 65 to 80 meters tall. While there’s no ideal ratio for rotor diameter to tower height, on average, the rotor diameter tends to be around half the height of the tower.

These rules aren’t set in stone, and many companies make turbines with smaller or larger blades depending on their engineering standards and the location of the wind farm. Offshore turbines have massive blades, with diameters larger than half the height of the tower. The largest turbine currently in production is the GE Haliade-X. This massive 14 MW turbine has a blade length of 107 meters and a rotor diameter that’s over 80% of the tower height.

Why are the Blades so Big?

To put it simply, wind energy is an economy of scale. Larger turbines with longer blades generate more power. If you want to produce a set amount of electricity, it costs less to have a few large turbines to meet that need, rather than manufacturing several smaller turbines. It takes up less space, materials and requires less maintenance, thus paying for itself quicker than it would otherwise.

There are three factors that affect the amount of electricity a turbine can produce:

Wind Swept Area

Longer blades equal a larger swept area, or total planar area covered by the rotor. Turbines that cover a larger area collect more wind and can therefore generate more power. This is because covering more area means collecting a larger volume of air. Larger volumes have more mass, and larger masses take more energy to move. Doubling the blade length increases the power capacity by a factor of four.

Wind Speed

High velocity winds carry more energy; it’s the reason why we choose windy places to build wind farms. The ratio of wind speed to energy produced follows a power curve, which is unique to each model of turbine. Generally, they begin generating electricity when wind speeds reach 6 miles per hour when the rotors start to spin. They reach their maximum potential at about 25 to 30 miles per hour, where they generate power at their nameplate capacity. At this point, no extra power will be generated no matter how much faster the wind blows. The cut-off speed for most turbines is at 55 miles per hour, where the rotors shut off to prevent damage to the internal components.

Air Density

Denser air is heavier and carries more mass, which creates more lift on the blades. Regions with denser air are more valuable for potential wind farms. The density of the air is a function of temperature, elevation, and air pressure. Cold air is denser than hotter air, lower elevations are denser than higher ones, and high-pressure systems are denser than low-pressure systems. The denser air at sea level provides more energy for the same wind speed compared to winds at higher altitudes.

The Biggest Turbine Blades Ever

In 2019, GE unveiled its massive Haliade-X offshore wind turbine. This gargantuan machine has a rated capacity between 12 MW and 14 MW. The tower is 248 meters tall, but from base to blade tip, the turbine is a whopping 260 meters tall. It has a rotor diameter of 220 meters, which is over 80% of the height of the tower. The Haliade-X can power a home for two days with just one rotation, and a single turbine can generate 74 GWh of electricity annually.

The blades on the Haliade-X measure about 107 meters long. That’s just over the length of a football field and one and a half times longer than a Boeing 747 jet. It would take Usain Bolt, who holds the world record for the fastest running speed, about ten seconds to run from end to end. The blades of the Haliade-X may just be among the single largest machine components ever built.

While the blades on the Haliade-X are pretty big, that doesn’t mean it takes stronger winds to get them moving. Compared to other turbines in its class, it can begin generating power at lower wind speeds. Its low rotational inertia allows the rotor to continue spinning even when strong winds die down.

Is There a Limit?

With turbines like the Haliade-X pushing the envelope of turbine size, one must ask: is there a limit? The blades can only get so long before it starts to bend and flex, risking a possible collision with the tower. At some point, the laws of physics will put a cap on the maximum turbine size.

That doesn’t mean that engineers aren’t trying. Ambitiously large turbines are being designed as we speak. The UpWind Project drew up plans for a massive 20 MW turbine with 123 meter long blades and a rotor diameter of 252 meters. Another design for an absurdly large 50 MW turbine calls for a blade length of 200 meters.

Obviously, building a turbine that large while guaranteeing safe operation is, for the time being, impossible. These machines are approaching the size of some of our tallest structures. The GE Haliade-X is just 40 meters shorter than the Eiffel Tower. Building a structure that large with moving parts is difficult. Ensuring that it stays standing during extreme weather is another challenge altogether. Until we have better materials and engineering techniques, turbine size will be limited.

Read also: Indepth Analysis of Onshore and Offshore Windpower

Conclusion

The blades of a wind turbine dictate how much power it can produce. Larger blades produce more electricity. With turbines getting bigger and bigger, we can also expect to see larger blades, but it’s not just about overall blade size. Blades are also getting bigger in relation to the height of the turbine. GE’s massive 14 MW Haliade-X has 107 meter long blades, with a rotor diameter spanning over three-quarters of its height. Longer blades mean the turbine can generate more power with fewer materials, and in the future, we might see wind farms with few turbines but longer blades.