In the Netherlands, engineering firm Greenboats has created a wind turbine casing made from natural flax and balsa fibers and held together with a biobased epoxy made by Sicomin. The 7.3-meter long structure can withstand wind loads as high as 55 m/s.
The firm, which says this is one of the world’s largest structures ever to be made from natural fiber composites (NFC), will test the “nacelles” later in Rotterdam this spring. Normally, such structures are made with steel, aluminum, and polyester reinforced with glass fibers.
The epoxy was key to enabling the use of natural fibers. “For a structure like the nacelle, it was critical that we selected materials that process consistently and perform well in large-scale components, and that is where Sicomin are so strong,” Friedrich Deimann, Greenboats founder and managing director, tells Wind Power Monthly. “Their resins, gelcoats and clear coats meet our sustainability targets, and match our NFC ethos, with no compromise on performance. And when we need to scale up, they can really supply on an industrial level.”
The clean energy company that commissioned the design was not disclosed.