Novel test rigs and testing procedures to enhance tidal composite blade performance

Tidal turbines are a promising opportunity to exploit ocean current flows clean energy production.

To enhance tidal turbine blade performance using composite materials for tidal energy generation, the NEMMO project team designed a novel testing and characterization protocol to evaluate blade material degradation caused by the exposition to the sea water environment. As composite blades are a key element for the tidal energy production device, the assessment of their lifetime is crucial for future of the sector. Therefore, developing test methods to assess this lifetime and potential lifetime improvement with material or design innovation is thus critical.

The developed set of definitions, methodologies and relevant experimental test protocols was used to perform the test campaign in the NEMMO project.

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