UK - Partners for the development of rotorblades as long as nine Routemaster buses sought -after

The Energy Technology Institute (ETI), a consortium consisting of companies such as Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, and Shell, is a British privately and publically instituted partnership that develops renewable energy technologies with the purpose of supporting the realisation of the 2020 targets set by the UK. The ETI expects to invest around £10 million (€11.4 million) and is asking companies to design a blade that could be used on an 8-10MW turbine.

ETI chief executive David Clarke said: "This project is based on our earlier studies which identified that the most cost-effective size for a horizontal axis turbine is likely to be between 8 and 10MW with significantly larger blades than scaling up current turbines would typically give.

"Along with improved system reliability, the impact of larger blades is a crucial factor in reducing the costs of electricity generation via offshore wind, which is why we are now seeking partners to develop and demonstrate these large-scale high performance blades."

The first stage of the project will focus on blade design and sizing and the second stage will focus on the manufacturing process. The final stage with involve prototype testing.

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