USA - Innovative wind blade for low wind speed regions

Knight & Carver’s Wind Blade Division has been honored by the U.S. Department of Energy for its $2.8 million shared cost research and development project that will soon lead to production of an innovative wind blade that produces energy in low wind speed regions. The company received the 2005 “Outstanding Research and Development Partnership Award” for “Outstanding Research and Development Partnership to Advance Wind Energy Technology” in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of California at Davis and Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. The project is one vital element within the Dept. of Energy’s strategy to reduce wind-powered electricity generation costs at low-speed sites, and to open new areas of wind production by utilizing next-generation configurations, designs and concepts.

Announcement of the award was made May 9 during the Dept. of Energy’s Peer Review Meeting in Golden, CO, attended by nearly 75 wind-energy leaders from the public and private sectors. The Knight & Carver project – known by the technical title of Adaptive Sweep Twist Blade – was launched one and one half years ago and is now in the final phases of research and development. When completed, it will produce a longer-than-conventional blade that automatically twists during high wind to reduce loads on the machine thus producing a maximized amount of wind energy. Therefore, longer blades than normal can be safely used in regions regarded as lower-wind production areas.

Sized at 27.2 meters x 2.4 meters, the Adaptive Sweep Twist Blade is designed both for maximum efficiency at lower-speed wind conditions and also to automatically adjust to higher wind gusts when necessary. Production is expected to begin next year. “We are extremely honored to receive this award,” said Gary Kanaby, Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division Manager, “because there are so many outstanding R&D teams in the wind sector these days. With so much progress being made so quickly in this industry, this truly is an exciting time for our company and our employees.”