Nabrawind introduces BladeRunner, a system that drastically reduces the cost of blade replacement and installation operations
BladeRunner, the new blade installation and de-installation system developed and patented by Nabrawind Technologies, reduces the cost of blade replacement by 70% compared to maintenance operations carried out with cranes. The Spanish company’s new product is applicable to all types of blades up to 80 meters long and has been successfully validated in a maneuver carried out at a wind farm owned by the French developer Innovent in Bignan (France).
The system is based on the installation of small equipment on the hub of the wind turbine, which is used to directly manipulate the blade, which ascends and descends in a vertical position. The system is connected directly to the inserts or T-Bolts of the blade root, which avoids exerting force on its aerodynamic surface, eliminating the risk of cracks appearing in the handling area, which are becoming increasingly critical as the blades grow in weight and size.
During the manoeuvre in France, which consisted of replacing a damaged blade with a new one, all the advantages that the BladeRunner will bring to the blade maintenance and installation sector were confirmed.
First of all, the logistics of the BladeRunner are very simple. Its small dimensions and low weight (not exceeding 1.000 kilograms) allow it to be transported in a van, so it can be moved with great agility.
Only a team of four people is required to operate it, and they are capable of replacing a blade or assembling a complete rotor in just three days.
The product complements the catalogue of Nabrawind, which already has wind turbine towers being installed in projects in Morocco and Namibia and modular blade systems, the first of which is already under development.
Ion Arocena, Program Manager of Nabrawind, has highlighted the “excellent result of our first manoeuvre and the good commercial reception” of the BladeRunner, which has aroused great interest in all the companies that ” we have been informing about the development of the product”. In this sense, Arocena praised the work of Innovent, which from “the first moment bet on the product and has collaborated very actively in the validation process of the BladeRunner”.
Meanwhile, Gregoire Verhaeghe, CEO of Innovent, expressed his confidence “in the potential of the BladeRunner” and at the same time said he was “convinced that Innovent and Nabrawind will continue to collaborate on projects in the near future”.