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Leading Edge Erosion : Solutions and Takeaways from the International Symposium

Allen Hall, Nicholas Gaudern, and Rodolfo Meleiro discuss leading edge erosion at the International Symposium on Leading Edge Erosion in Denmark, focusing on the current state of the problem, solutions, testing methods, and key takeaways from the conference.

PowerCurve: https://powercurve.dk/

Arthwind: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arth-wind-services&consulting/

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Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. And we are in Roskilde, Denmark at the 5th International Symposium on Leading Edge Erosion and Wind Turbine Blades. And I’m here with Nicholas Gaudern of PowerCurve and Rodolfo Meleiro of Arthwind. So we have a world perspective here on leading edge erosion.

We have Europe. Brazil, which is a lot of wind energy there. Thank you for being here and I’ll try to cover the America as best I can. So this has been a really interesting conference. It’s held at DTU which is, this is a wind energy center. So this conference has been organized and it has international flavor to it.

We saw presentations from India, Denmark, obviously there were German. Yeah. Presentations, Japan, China u. S. Sandia has been here. So there’s a paper from Cornell today. So there’s been all sorts of people worried about leading edge erosion. And I think it’s a really hot topic. And that’s the reason why I came to, to see the action here, because there’s.

So much that we don’t know. And I figured if anybody does know it’s a DTU, so it’s time to get over there and to find out what’s going on. So this whole podcast is really to discuss what we have seen and heard and try to figure out what the state of the industry is and where it needs to go.

And just first impressions, really One of my first impressions, I’ll just start. One of my first impressions was we have a long way to go. Yes, that we don’t know a lot. Yeah, and I wish I had been shocked so far So we’re at the end of day two and day one was pretty intensive on this or the mathematical Computational side.

Nicholas Gaudern: We don’t know a lot. We’ve had a lot more materials as well today So I think it’s nice that we have that really cross disciplinary approach here. So we’ve got materials. We’ve got structures. We’ve got data We’ve got metrology, meteorology, aerodynamics So it is bringing all of these expert field together which I think is really important.

There’s also the risk that there’s a lot of noise, because obviously there’s issues to be resolved in all of these different fields. And then, it may make it a little bit harder to focus on what really matters I think.

Allen Hall: There’s a lot of data smoothing that’s happening at the minute, from what I can tell, and different approaches to data smoothing, and I’m not even sure.

Everybody has settled on that.

Nicholas Gaudern: No, and I think we had like a discussion at the end of the day yesterday, like a shouting across the lecture theatre kind of discussion at the end of the sessions. And I think what was clear is there is more of a consensus about the AEP losses that we’re seeing, which is important.

And that’s really helpful because I think if you start seeing big scary numbers 15, losses, sure, those might exist in a very extreme scenario on a very particular type of turbine, but I really want to make the point here that is not the norm at all. We wouldn’t have an industry if 20 percent AEP every time they got some erosion.

So I think that’s been a really nice thing for me to see, this show that there’s show, conference, there’s there’s been a lot more, yeah. Say, convergence on small but significant numbers one and a half percent, two percent AEP losses. That’s plenty to worry about, we don’t need to.

Allen Hall: No, I think that’s right is because Rudolfo and I were just talking about that before we recorded here.

We saw a presentation that said 25 percent this morning, and everybody in the audience is no. No, they can’t be, but it does matter where you are in the world though. Yes. And having seen more recent pictures from Central America, India, some places in Brazil, they have really tough rain environment.

What happens in the United States is not what happens in Brazil.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Of the data I’m bringing, half of Brazilian fleets right now does not have LEP anymore. They have delimited. Yeah. Okay. So that’s the status Brazil has right now. Brazil is a relatively new industry. So the first older wind turbines are reaching 10, 12 years. Sure. And now some of those are requiring the maintenance.

And the owners are looking at, and that’s what you’re seeing, we’re seeing very degraded leading edge.

Allen Hall: Put your hand through the leading edge kind of degradation?

Rodolfo Meleiro: There is that, but that’s not common. That’s not common. But no more leading edge protection, no more top coat, laminate exposed, laminate damage.

That that’s a lot. So it’s a structural repair.

Allen Hall: It’s a structural repair, okay. All right.

Rodolfo Meleiro: And we were discussing that before. That’s extra cost. Besides reapplying the lesion edge, having to do the laminate repair, that’s a very extra cost, extra time for the machine stoppage, extra problems for everybody.

Allen Hall: I think that’s why we’re all so concerned about it. And this is the discussion that was held last night as part of the IEA group, right? What was the name of the IEA group?

Nicholas Gaudern: So there’s the IEA task 46, which is focusing on the leading edge erosion. And then there’s also, it’s not IEA, but there’s a Danish funder project EUDP funder called LEARCAT, leading edge roughness categorization.

So that is involving a lot of LM led by DTU and Powercurves also.

Allen Hall: And I guess. LM is representing GE. We don’t need them now.

Nicholas Gaudern: In a sense, yes. Exactly. So LearCat is also feeding in and collaborating with the IEA task because there’s a lot of shared knowledge and goals there.

Allen Hall: But they’re going different directions though.

That was my opinion being an electrical engineer and a lightning person is that the IEA was about trying to create some categories so that in a damage report they could say it was Leading edge erosion too,

Nicholas Gaudern: but yeah, I think the IEA is being more broad, they’re trying to bring in structural repair considerations and a bit more of a, it seems a little more holistic, whereas LearCat is very much focused on The aerodynamics and the air acoustics and the impact of different types of damages.

So there’s no structural focus there, for example.

Allen Hall: And I think this is where I think that program has a lot more to deliver in terms of what value it would bring to the industry. Yes. So the Leocat. Program from some of the discussions in the discussions were great yesterday because and maybe we could throw up some b roll here to show what we’re what happened, but in that program They’re actually taking real damage off of blades like taking a mold off of a damaged blade Yeah, then creating a leading edge of the putting on to a blade in a wind tunnel and actually doing real experiments in the wind tunnel to measure AEP loss, drag, essentially, drag to lift, and then acoustic noise to come off, different kinds of damage.

Nicholas Gaudern: And that’s really important because, we were talking just at the start of this session about what is the AEP loss number? Because you have to have a realistic number that people can believe in and trust. Because otherwise, it either gets way too much attention and people get scared.

Or it doesn’t get any attention at all. So you have to find that balance. Now, I think LearCat should deliver a lot towards that. So there’s this fantastic wind tunnel here, the Pool of Core wind tunnel, a really big, impressive new facility. And I was up there yesterday having a look at the first models for the LearCat project.

Oh wow, okay. So 3D printed leading edge modules. from these laser scans and these molds that have been taken in the field, and then they can carry out these really precise measurements to say what is the lift and drag impact.

Allen Hall: Because the ultimate result of this is to help. Wind turbines in the United States and in Brazil, which have tend to have a lot of leading edge damage, probably more than what I’ve typically seen in Europe, at least in northern Europe.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the issue then is computationally, you want to be able to take drone scans. This is what Aravista does. This is the power of Aravista approach to it, was basically taking some scans, some photographs, and then driving that to an AEP loss number so that you, the operator, can understand.

When do I schedule maintenance or do I schedule maintenance? You

Nicholas Gaudern: need to know when to make a decision.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Doing business is a business that has to stand for itself. Yes. All decisions comes down to downtime, to the cost, and yes, a reliable model and a reliable prediction of how much you are losing production.

Yes. And how much it will cost you to repair, that’s just a business case model. So that drives a decision, okay, this month is the correct month to stop the machine, do the repair, and go back to the regular production and have another maintenance predicted for X years, X months.

Nicholas Gaudern: And I guess the bigger the turbine is, the more important that is as well.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Totally the more important it is for many reasons, because. The bigger the turbine PP is increasing, so the erosion’s increasing, the bigger, the turbine, bigger problems.

Nicholas Gaudern: And the more money you lose

Rodolfo Meleiro: and the more money you lose because you’re not stopping anymore a one and a half machine mega watts machine, you’re stopping 5, 5, 6 megawatts machine.

So it’s much more power illusion by each minute, by started.

Allen Hall: Offshore. Multiplies that and then that was mostly the discussion here because Europe is so much offshore and America is just getting started and Brazil is going to be doing the same thing that America is doing here shortly, right? So instead of 5, 6 megawatt machines, we’re talking 10, 12, 18 megawatt machines.

Then it really becomes important because the cost to get out to the site to do a leading edge repair is so expensive that you’d want to do preventative approaches before you even deploy the blades, in my opinion. That’s not a discussion I heard this week, which is odd. Not so much. Why? What am I missing here?

It would seem to me as an OEM that I know that’s going to be a problem. I know when I put an 18 megawatt machine out in the water that I’m going to have leading edge erosion. I probably ought to put some protection on it just to. extend the lifetime?

Nicholas Gaudern: I think, Again I can’t speak for every turbine, but from what I’ve seen, every recent offshore deployment will have some form of LEP.

Okay. But of course, I think the technology has moved on a lot in recent years. Yes. From some of the early coatings and tapes to some more advanced now shells, soft shells, hard shells, other kinds of coatings. And that is making a difference, but I’ve still seen some photos of some pretty shredded blades.

Allen Hall: Yes, I have too. So again, that comes down to, I think it’s in the part of the discussion here, and I want to dive into this a little bit, is it’s not just the shell, it’s not just the coating. The failure mechanism for leading edge erosion has to do with the assembly of all of it. Yes. Because, and this is my simplistic approach to it, electrical person talking electrical things.

It’s much like a radio wave passing through different materials. There’s impedance mismatches. There’s boundaries, right? So you’re, when you, when the rain particle hits this surface, it then puts a force or transmits energy through this material. And at every boundary, if there’s a discontinuity, there’s a lot of force to rip it apart, to break it apart.

Nicholas Gaudern: We saw some interesting presentation yesterday when we looking at the hail impacts on on leading edges as well. And that kind of impact damage you get. So offshore, it’s just a much more hostile environment. Sure. In terms of the, so you’ve got that corrosion, the uv, uv, I think uv, the winds.

So yeah it’s tough, but it also makes it even more important to understand…

Allen Hall: what the losses are. Yeah. I think the key, right? If you’re dealing with an 18 megawatt machine, a 20 megawatt machine, the losses get to be. Astoundingly big. And because of the cost,

Nicholas Gaudern: Even if you’re using a few tenths of a percent AEP, that’s worth doing something about.

Allen Hall: Yeah. I totally agree. So I think there’s like a multidisciplinary approach to this. One is to understand what the materials are doing. And I haven’t heard a lot of discussion about that. Maybe just because the researchers are super smart and they already know when they walk in here. I haven’t heard the story.

I don’t, I’m not catching it, but it seems like the material has a lot to do with it. The application has a lot to do with it. The laminate in which is being applied on, the thicknesses of which is being applied, the temperatures, the humidities, all those things play into whether that coating or that shell or whatever it is, has a long lifetime.

And are we controlling those variables and is the word that the researchers are writing down and is in sort of technical terms, is that being translated to. To the engineers and the mechanical people on the floor who are actually doing the work.

Rodolfo Meleiro: I don’t always like to give the exact, not example, but effect every blade, two thirds of the blade weight is manually put by somebody in that, that’s the couch.

It’s true that roughly one third of the blade weight in resin that goes by infusion process. It’s more automated, but all the to shooters. The paint, the fabrics, the core, everything someone puts on his back go, sits in the molding position fits correctly. So we’re talking about your touch to blade.

20 tons are manually put into that blade, the product. Yeah. And then we discuss how much of the variable on the micros of thickness of coach right, will affect the life. So it’s so very complicated things. That right now we do with control, but it’s not that level of control. Yeah. So we have, there are a lot of variables.

Allen Hall: There’s a lot of variables in the application of coatings

Nicholas Gaudern: and the environments that these turbines sit in. I think that’s also an important thing here with things like rainfall, average annual rainfall, that will have a erosion, but also that doesn’t tell you the whole story, like even among the turbines on one site, the variability and erosion.

It can be quite dramatic, and it’s because of this handcrafted product, this, that we’ve just been saying, Rodolfo. and the really local microclimates and the individual operation of that turbine. So it’s really important that you get out there and you look at the turbines.

Allen Hall: And the data you provided yesterday was amazing because you looked at what, 1500 turbines?

Nicholas Gaudern: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. We were really fortunate to be able to present that. So we, we did a project last year with One of the big U. S. operators, one of the top four U. S. operators, and we looked at a sample of their fleet with, yeah, over 1, 500 wind turbines. There was eight different turbine models, so we have nice spread of models from different OEMs.

Okay. Rotor diameters between about 80 and 120 meters. And ages from two to 15 years. So we have a really nice spread population. And what we found was that firstly there’s a lot of damage so we receive all of the metadata from the drone inspections to say what damage is and where was it found, on those turbines, there was more than 95, 000 tagged damages.

Allen Hall: Whoa, okay. So pretty much everybody, every turbine had some level of Yeah, exactly. Danny Ellison told me that a long time ago. He said every turbine has leading edge erosion. Every one of them. Yeah.

Nicholas Gaudern: So that’s that’s really important because then you can start to look where is that damage?

And kind of unsurprisingly, most of it is towards the tip. Sure. So most of it’s in the outer 20 percent of the span because that’s where your tip speed’s highest and you’re going to get that erosion starting.

Allen Hall: But there was no, there was not when I got to the summary, I want to get to this point, it wasn’t like a particular OEM had a particular problem.

No. Everybody had basically had the same problem. And even turbines that were next to one another at the same wind farm had a different result.

Nicholas Gaudern: That was super interesting. So what we’re finding is by actually looking at The real inspection data and then coupling it to a model of that turbine. We aren’t going to detail, but basically we built a very nice area model from a laser scan, a lot of CFD modeling.

So we know exactly how the aerodynamics performs. You could have two turbines next to each other, one loses 2%, the other loses half a percent. And you need to understand that because you need to be able to prioritize what turbine you go to fix first and what to do with it. Otherwise you’re just wasting money.

Exactly. On average over that fleet, that 1500 sample, The average AEP loss we found was around half percent. Not dramatic, but enough. But the spread was some turbines losing nothing, some losing over two and a half percent. Okay. The spread is large and some of it’s quite dramatic.

Allen Hall: So there is an inconsistency, I think if I were making a product, I would like to see them all the road, roughly the same.

And that’s not what’s happening today. And is that coupled to some of the more materials based discussions we’ve heard about today, which is our focus around the mechanism in which leading edge erosion happens. That we’re just not paying that much attention to it. What is driving that? Or is it because when I get out in the field and, different lifts and different handling techniques and this blade set out in the field before we put it up?

Nicholas Gaudern: I’m interested particularly to hear your thoughts on this Rodolfo, because I know you’ve spent a lot of time in factories over the years. Cost. I want to say cost, there’s such a huge drive for cost out in the industry, that’s going to affect your solutions, your lead energy protection solutions, finish quality.

Rodolfo Meleiro: For sure. For sure. I have heard that men know more than once regarding what, which solution the OEMs decide to put on the blades and cost is a driver for that too. Sure. Then. But I think the biggest cause for all this variation is the nature of the business itself. As I said, we have too many manual labor operation.

They, I don’t know if you guys know, but right now I would say or dare to say that most, if not all of the blade leading edge is applied by roller.

Allen Hall: Yeah. Yeah. That’s my impression.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Yeah. And I have also, I think it’s almost a, it’s a an artist’s work to apply 15, 20 meters of leading edge and assure it to have the 0.

1, 0. 2 millimeters thickness. Without variation. Yeah. So there are variation, there are measurements for sure. But you don’t measure you don’t do the right measurements every 200 millimeters. So you have variation in this region and that variation is blade by blade. Yeah. And I think each blade is a, is a.

Badge, artisan artisanal work. Yes.

Nicholas Gaudern: Yeah, that’s right. But partially it is. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And I think, you do, cost is obviously really important because, the reason that we’re able to have such an international symposium today Is because the industry has been really successful in recent years at driving down cost, increasing deployment.

Wind energy is so big now. And even for someone who’s been in the industry for a few years, that was hard to imagine 10, 15 years ago. So cost is important, but I think now we’re getting these huge turbines producing so much energy, you can’t afford any kind of downtime. I’ve heard stories of blades on offshore wind farms being brought back to shore for leading edge repairs because the erosion is so bad.

Imagine the cost of doing that. That’s insane. And I think you’re not going to want to go for your super robust, super high cost LEP solution on all turbines. But for ones that are going to be in these extreme offshore environments you probably do.

Allen Hall: I haven’t even heard discussions about what the OEMs are offering, if anything.

And I know there’s some big operators here. I thought they would be asking very direct questions. We use X. What if we change to Y?

Nicholas Gaudern: Question. There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of products out there at the moment. And there seems to be a new LEP product quite often, I would say at the moment. And there’s.

Again, that’s why real trustworthy numbers come into it in terms of losses, because They’re all over the place. LEP changes aerodynamics, right? But I do think that maybe sometimes operators and OEMs get a little bit too hung up on a few tenths of a percent. So they say, okay compared to my polished wind tunnel model, if I put this LEP on the aerodynamics is a bit worse.

And I can measure it. And sure, you can, and you should care about the small things, but if it stops the erosion happening, that’s the bigger thing to worry about.

Rodolfo Meleiro: And I think the business case up to now the driver for the cost reduction industry was wrong. The OEMs always think about the machine price.

It must be seen the lifelong operation of the machine price. They said that’s cost is important and it was less important on the older turbines because they were more robust. They, they have less problems for many reasons, even though they have a lot of problems, but we are reaching something that’s strange because everything improved, the quality improved of the production, the quality of materials, the knowledge improved, but you’re having more problems.

And I think that this case of the leading edge is a possible improvement to, for sure, investing in apply the better. A stronger leading edge in the factory is 10, 100 times less expensive than applying a field.

Allen Hall: Yeah. And that’s, that I think that message is getting heard more and more is it’s better to get it out of the factory, correct, than have to do it secondarily.

The United States where we have 77. A thousand wind turbines running currently, something like that. There’s a couple hundred thousand blades. Yeah. There’s a lot. Probably right. There’s a, at some point, you can do so only so much in the factory, the vast majority of the problem in Brazil, United States, even Europe is you’re going to have to deal with what’s out there right now because you need to extend the lifetime.

I know the weird thing for me sitting in there is they’re talking about 25 year lifespans on turbines here, and I’m thinking. 10 years and it’s over in the United States. They’re going to repower this thing and it doesn’t matter. And the model is totally different.

Nicholas Gaudern: That is very different. I think if you look at lots of European countries, particularly Germany, they do run the turbines a long time.

They do. And there’s a lot of folks on life extension and really squeezing everything out. But I agree, all the customers we work with in the US, it’s this perpetual conversation about when we’re going to repower, when we’re going to repower. And they do consider a much shorter time horizon, I think.

Allen Hall: And that’s shorter.

Time span in the U. S., my thought is, and it’s on the same wavelength as Rodolfo, is put a better LEP on, out of the factory, if you can, if you can’t, most likely they are not going to buy that, right? That the operators typically don’t do that. All right, so you got two years of warranty, you got two years of warranty, and then you own it.

And the leading edge protection may not be included in the warranty. Depends.

Rodolfo Meleiro: If it’s normal, where else?

Allen Hall: It’s not in there. All right. So the model then in my mind is if I have a 10 year lifespan and I’m thinking us right now at year three or four, I’m going to have leading edge erosion. Now it won’t be bad enough that I have to go and do a bunch of structural repairs.

But what I will do was I would get a robot out there. Or something and get that leading edge repaired and at the same time put VGs on.

Nicholas Gaudern: Check if the business case is there, right? Again, that comes down to the simulation.

Allen Hall: I think the business case has to be proven by simulation, right? That you have to go look at the model.

The model in my head is based upon what Nicholas, you have told me. So I’m running the calculation up here. Yes, I think if you use something like an AeroVista to do the calculation, I think what you’ll find is. You put it on a year three or four, you’re trying to get to year 10, right? So you’re trying to make this blade, not touch it for about six years, maybe seven.

The way to do that is to put on a better LEP product, put on VG. So at that last year, nine and 10, it makes you power.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Just BC1E, which is also a driver for the industry,

Allen Hall: inspection. Inspection. Yes. So

Rodolfo Meleiro: That’s what’s missing in this case, because I think there’s a point, I have voice when I come to this conference, I have two questions I try to see if we’re moving to answer.

First one is how much we lost with the erosions and how we can prove that and then put a stone on top of that, because we totally agree, we’re all on the same boat that we have lost. But yes, we, when we still see numbers from half to 25, we don’t have a big alignment. And the second question is how much time my LEP lasts?

Yes. So those are the two questions. And right now, the best thing we have. It’s the simulations which show visible results and to how long it lasts is inspection. So you inspect and with inspections, you see the evolution of the problem and then you predict, okay, so with this level of the, of damages, I’m losing This amount of production, and then you see whether the curve of the cost of repair intersects with the cost.

And you decide that’s the sweet spot.

Allen Hall: So here’s the maintenance. Here’s the trouble, Rodolfo, with that approach. And so that approach is used in lightning protection all the time. Like they want to go do some, a five year experiment on to see if this works or not. The problem is the industry’s growing so fast in Brazil.

The industry is growing faster than it is in the United States. Yep, it’s going to explode. The amount of money going into Brazil to build wind turbines is insane at the moment, which is great for Brazil. But if you start making yourself several thousand turbine, say that’s a thousand turbines a year, 2000 turbines a year, 5,000 turbines a year, and you miss.

You have a huge problem, and then you’re right, and inspections become the number one priority to go out there and inspect, inspect, inspect. You should be doing inspection automatically. Yes. But what’s happening is they’re doing inspection plus an inspection because they have so much degradation they can’t keep up with it.

They’re trying to put a curve. Engineers are in the front office back there, or in the back office, sitting there going, Okay, this is year three, I have this much erosion. Next year, I’m going to have twice as much.

Nicholas Gaudern: But yeah go and look at it. Exactly. Go and look at it.

Allen Hall: You have to go look at it. I think that’s going to be the key.

I do think if you’re not going to go buy some better LEP system, the robots are pretty good. Now, Rodolfo, I went to Lafayette, I watched this thing go on. The robot installation is pretty controlled. Way better than I think is what’s happening in the factory. Am I wrong about that?

Rodolfo Meleiro: No, I was in Botafogo. I have visited.

I don’t know if it’s true. I have seen the robots. I will have to see. I think it’s available that you have robots doing that. And I agree. It’s unquestionable that a process done by robots. Yeah. A xip door process done by machine has less variation and it’s going to be here a great results. I totally agree.

I just would join that with the best material. And we have customers in Brazil right now that they’re doing exactly this discussion. I am going to do a big protection campaign. What material do I put? . And they’re trying, they, they’re, okay. I’ll put you three solutions. So I can run for two years, compare, so I decide what to do with the rest of my fleet, because they don’t have that.

Allen Hall: They don’t want to do it twice, though. No. So that, and that system sets up to do it twice. And that’s where this conference, I think, comes into the symposium. And the people here should be able to direct an answer to, because a lot of terms in Brazil, in a particular area, northeast Brazil.

And so the weather’s a certain way. I, we should be able to plug that into a model Northeast Brazil, four megawatt this OEM, and go, this is the right solution based on all the knowledge that we have. Am I crazy? I think that’s the only way to do it.

Rodolfo Meleiro: That’s the desire, that’s what they were to do.

But we are missing this is this theoretical. Yes. So they’re doing practical.

Allen Hall: Yeah, they’re doing all that. They’re doing all practical. And the operators are doing it, which is the worst way to do it because they’re already cut short because they don’t have a lot of time to sit there and monitor

it.

Nicholas Gaudern: So it’s hard. They won the the late presentations yesterday by David Manchi. Oh, yes. Really talking about a lot of the IEA work and the Sandia work and the work that’s been going on. I think he made a really good point about we have to do more modeling. And we have to trust the modeling.

Because when you start going to the field to hunt down a few tenths of a percent, it is nigh on impossible to do that with SCADA data. It is. So SCADA is a really valuable tool and can be used lots of ways. But you have to understand its limitations. And trying to track, say, leading edge erosion losses of a small magnitude.

is incredibly challenging. And I think there’s maybe been a little too much stock placed in it. Rather than saying we know how to model a wind turbine. We’ve clearly known that for a very long time because we have wind turbines. Yeah, we do. So let’s just extend that trust and that confidence to use those models in slightly different ways.

Yes. If we can design a blade. And it’s aerodynamic characteristics with a model, you can also understand how it degrades with a model as

Allen Hall: well.

But you, Nicholas, you’re taking it from the blade designer, which has used a BEM model into a computational model. And I think for a lot of operators that haven’t worked with PowerPer before, they don’t realize the power that sits in that model.

Yeah. If you have an actual blade scan, which you do, you’re not guessing at what the shape is. You’re actually taking the real model and applying. Real damage to get a real number out of it. Something they couldn’t measure with the SCADA system.

Nicholas Gaudern: No, exactly. And I think that’s, there’s been a lot of focus on the LearCat project.

The team at DTU, like the LearCat team at DTU Alexander, for example, he made a presentation yesterday looking at the CFD results, these really amazing CFD results of modeling the full 3D erosion in CFD and looking at how the lift and the drag changes, the flow patterns or the buildup of the turbulence.

And these tools are super powerful, but you’ve then got to look, how do you plug that into some of the industry standards, because the industry standard is still BEM, Bladel Momentum, that’s how you certify turbines, but

Allen Hall: you can’t use that to do these flying measurements and look at leading edge erosion.

That model will not produce accurate results.

Nicholas Gaudern: You’ve got to supplement it with the higher order models. Yeah. Like lots of things, each tool has its place. To me, the job of. of the engineer is to bring all the tools at your disposal together, understand the limitations and the benefits and then fuse them to get the best answer.

Allen Hall: Where can people go to see about LearCat?

Nicholas Gaudern: Where would you go on the web? So there’s a LinkedIn page for LearCat. There’s also a project site on the DTU you just search for LearCat on LinkedIn, that’s probably a good

Allen Hall: Okay, it’s important for operators and engineers involved in blaze to get to that site to see what’s going on to understand what the state of the industry is, because there are some powerful tools.

We can argue about what L. E. P. Solution we want to put on. However, we shouldn’t be arguing about what the losses are and what turbines to go fix. I think that Should be done and my opinion should be thrown on VGs while you’re at it because I think it makes the lifetime longer.

Nicholas Gaudern: But it’s a really good point and actually to throw a little bit of a curve, but we’re talking a lot about leading edge erosion.

That’s the seminar here, but. What about contamination? Exactly. Contamination, the kind of anti erosion, you’re building up the surface. But aerodynamically, it’s the same thing in lots of ways. It’s losing your lift, it’s increasing drag. It’s the same problem.

Allen Hall: And we used to get pictures from, Brazil can be pretty dirty at times.

Yep. Oklahoma, Texas. can be, the blades can be pretty dirty depending on the time of year, until it rains, basically.

Nicholas Gaudern: India, the same issue. The nice thing is that, a lot of the techniques and things that we’re talking about at Frozen, they can be transferred to think about contamination. The only real issue is that I see is you can’t put leading edge protection on to solve contamination.

Because it’s building up on the surface. Okay, maybe we could talk about really hydrophobic coatings and all these kind of things. But in general, you can say leading edge protection doesn’t stop contamination.

Allen Hall: Don’t get me started on hydrophobic coatings because I think we’re having all kinds of discussion about that.

But you’re right? Yeah. Uh, this is, it’s wintertime. It’s February right now, right? We’re in Denmark. It’s snowing today, of course. Every place I go, it snows. When I went to Latvia, it snowed. But those coatings, when you started adding any coating to a blade, isophobic coating, hydrophobic coatings leading edge erosion is a different animal and I think you changed the properties, based on what I saw here today, you’re going to change the properties of leading edge erosion.

Nicholas Gaudern: Yes. Yeah, exactly. They are linked and contamination is a difficult one to deal with. It’s also super localized. We see some blades, particularly up in like Norway, Sweden, five, six years old, they look perfect. Isn’t that insane? It’s true. But other blades, they’ve got proper crusts on the leading edge, but that’s, you’re mentioning VGs, that is where VGs can really come in.

And you see quite a few turbines out there with VGs towards the tip. And their main purpose is to give robustness to the power curve. Because when you have contamination or erosion, it damages the aerodynamic performance. It’s harming that boundary layer over the surface. And the VG is there to re energize the flow.

and recover the lift that’s being lost. So a VG doesn’t care if it’s erosion or contamination, it will still recover losses. So again, you do need to think as an operator about. LEP, repairs, inspection, but also upgrades, aerodynamic upgrades, because there’s a

Rodolfo Meleiro: lot of things you can do. But that comes out, interesting question.

Again, why the OEMs doesn’t put that on the factory? Already.

Allen Hall: I think that’s a really That’s a great question.

Rodolfo Meleiro: I One thing, we’re talking about today the maintenance of the leading edge. If all the OM when it sell the turbine, they says, oh, you have to consider every four years repaint the leakage. The operators just do what the manual says. Yes. Yes. I don’t think they say, oh, I want to do that. No they’ll do what the manual says. So if they Exactly. Sell the turbine, even maintenance plan. Yep. , they they, the owner they will put on this business with, if he decide to buy the turbine, he just follow the business plan and that’s it.

Nicholas Gaudern: Your point about VGs in the factory is an interesting one. I would say, again, anecdotally

Rodolfo Meleiro: It isn’t a tip because of the first work that I did, the Yes, the More and more I’m doing that right now, but That’s the chip. I have some knowledge.

Nicholas Gaudern: No, you don’t see that so much. I would say Siemens, Siemens put on quite a lot now.

Allen Hall: Has done it more recently. Yeah. That’s the only one I really have seen.

Nicholas Gaudern: Tends to be as an aftermarket from what I’ve seen. Yeah. And that’s just because I think firstly, the knowledge level has been increasing quite dramatically in recent years because of things like the symposium we’re at now. So the knowledge of how a VG can help you.

I didn’t know that it’s a cynical thing to say, but I think OEMs really like their service business. They make a lot of money from service.

Allen Hall: I just saw Vestas numbers and you have a separate line item for service. It’s amazing.

Nicholas Gaudern: I think given the choice, they’d maybe prefer to put some parts on as a package they sell separately a few years down the line.

Sure, it’s a, it’s the whole money. But aerodynamically, yeah, as you say, Rodolfo, most new big blades have VGs in the route. Anyway, towards the tip, it’s a bit different between the OEMs for sure. But, um, they can really help.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Allen as you said, they can help to give robustness. Yes, it’s the robustness.

Protect it from the degradation, minimizing the effects of possible loss.

Allen Hall: Yes, exactly. Now, the best new product that Rodolfo and I were talking while you were out for a minute, Nicholas, was the best new product we’ve seen here so far is this company called Helicoid. I’m going to pronounce, I can’t pronounce it because I’m American, but it’s spelled H E L I C O I D.

Helicoid? Helicoid, yeah. All right. Helicoid. So the presentation started off this we’re from Hale Co. We’re based in the United States and the uk and we’re making pickleball boards, perhaps . I don’t know where this discussion’s gonna go, but it’s gonna be interesting. Let’s go. So the it the technology, I’ll describe it as a technology.

The tech technology is. They’re using the fiber construction of a, was it a shrimp? Like the little critter that he beats, right? Yeah. So on some of them they have this hammer device that they use to repel crabs, because crabs like shrimp evidently. So these shrimp have these hammer devices which have this fiber that’s really hard.

Now, I guess they can use it to crack the shells of these crabs and defend themselves. But when they start looking at this fiber construction, it’s really tight. So there’s not a lot of other stuff. It’s almost all fiber. And what they realized was if they took unidirectional fiber and instead of going 090, 090, 45, you go 030, 60, 90, something like that, where you have less.

space, as resin rich areas, that it makes it extremely tough. And when you rain erosion that material without any coding on it at all, you don’t get the punch through. So it’s the uni plies and the 090 plies that we put around the leading edges today, if we haven’t, or just glue join, that we punch through.

So when we saw, when Rudolph and I saw that, I was Like, ugh. Yeah, here we go. Yep. So even if the LEP fails, you’re probably not gonna, it is gonna give you a longer time before it eats to the laminate. We have to do a structural repair, so it lends itself to robotics. That, okay. I have some, I see the coating is missing.

I’m gonna call aeros. They’re gonna be here, in three months. Three months. It’s not gonna eat through that laminate because it’s designed in a different way. To last longer terrain erosion. Rodolfo, is that the logic there?

Rodolfo Meleiro: That’s the logic and I think that’s genius because we go back to the same discussion to have time to plan the maintenance on the right time.

Yes. And that’s a big difference. We’re discussing that also. Doing the repair for only the paint cost X. Doing the repair for the paints plus the laminates cost between two to three X. Yes. So it’s a, just talk about doubling, maybe three times the cost and time of the machine to stop it.

And you have a material or you have a construction that can protect you from that. So you have time to do the repair before you reach this two, three times penalty. That’s great.

Allen Hall: The pictures that they were showing was of a standard leading edge design, fiber design, right? And then they applied this material over it as a Couple, couple.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Like two layers of this stuff, right? It was they did a reference sample, like six layers, normal material. Oh, yes. And the other one, four layers normal, plus two layers of dead material.

Allen Hall: Exactly. And So it would replace some of the structural applies or could be secondarily added because how much of this material would you really need on a blade?

Half a meter wide, maybe? It wouldn’t, yeah, it wouldn’t be necessarily, you’re not using millions of dollars of this material.

Rodolfo Meleiro: You, I would consider that as a, And when you do the lesion as a protection just semi width of the paint. So we’re talking 200 millimetres, 300 millimetres maximum. Yeah,

Nicholas Gaudern: You don’t need to cover more than that.

Rodolfo Meleiro: Yeah, it’s a little much,

Allen Hall: it’s a little much. So it’s a small amount. It’s something that would already fit into the manufacturing process, whether you could injection, inject resonant to it, whether it flow right. And all those things have to be worked right. And that’s when you have tight fibers like that, it can be a little bit difficult to get the resonant between them.

But. The logic makes sense, that it’s, it could be a simple addition for an OEM or even in a repair situation, like if I had a cracked open leading edge, I could repair this material, so I’m trying to get to my 10 year lifespan in America, I would do it with this material. In fact, I probably wouldn’t go fix the LEP at year 9, I would just let it go, because I know I got probably a year with this stuff.

Nicholas Gaudern: Can protect. Yeah. A part of you might be losing lots of AEP.

Allen Hall: You’re gonna lose a lot of AEP, but at that point, the way that Americans run their turbines, Nicholas, you don’t want to know. But I do think there is a plan to get more power out, right? And I think overall, it’s an overall number.

Sure.

Nicholas Gaudern: And. This is a perfect application for composites, right? Which you can put the fibers wherever you want them, whatever orientation you can do it.

Allen Hall: So the pickleball solution actually turned into something real. So that presentation, which didn’t start out on the best foot, my opinion, all of a sudden at the end, I’m like, holy moly.

I think this is good. Is it me? We’re both over here. Wow, this is cool. Because I do think that kind of technology can help get us bias a little more time LEP solution is going to be, which we don’t

Nicholas Gaudern: Well, we had a, there was another presentation yesterday on metallic research. Obviously not a new concept and they were showing, obviously the upfront cost is going to be a lot higher, but lifetime costs should be much lower.

Yeah, it is, it’s,

Rodolfo Meleiro: I think the concept is right, but the implementation proposals, I think it’s lacks something, it’s too, I think it’s complicated.

Allen Hall: It’s complicated.

Rodolfo Meleiro: It’s much more complicated than the proposal, but yeah, I think that there’s a point. Maybe the, as we discussed it, maybe we should have some more focus.

So on better materials. On a different approach to really extend the life, really extend the life or to have a cost effective material that gives us this maintenance plan that can be really predictable and affordable.

Nicholas Gaudern: Yeah. I’m not sure you need to go full metallic leading edge on most onshore sites.

It probably is overkill.

Allen Hall: When the discussion about metal leading edge has come up, I thought we are still in a new frontier. We have not. Got to a solution. We haven’t arrived at a solution. We’re still in the middle of a solution We’re using a solution that was on propellers back in the 1930s. That’s where we’re at right now I was like we’re trying everything.

Yeah that we should be keep ourselves open to everything and When if it’s a composite solution if it’s a leading edge protection coating or a shell or maybe it’s metal who knows Yeah, but we gotta hurry and it’s it’s a difficult one, right?

Nicholas Gaudern: Because you don’t want to you don’t want to stimmy innovation You don’t want to stimmy research.

Sure. However We can’t pretend that the wind turbine industry is a cottage industry anymore No, the number of turbines that are being installed means that we do have to speed up. We have to speed up. I don’t think we can have 10, 15, 20 competing LEP solutions that have vastly different properties and and maintenance regimes because there’s just too much choice.

And then every time an operator wants to decide on a solution, they don’t really know what to pick. They then have to set up their own test campaign because there’s not enough data out there. And then I just feel like we just keep going in circles a lot. So yeah, there’s that balance, which you have to innovate, you have to try new things, you have to open the box.

But we also have to have a solution that surely a lot of people agree works.

Allen Hall: So that gets to my point about time frame. And one of the pain points for me watching this is I know how painful it is for operators to deal with this and all the tools and resources they’re trying to go get. At the same time the academic part of this.

is out to 2025, 2026, which is fine. I think that’s fine, but we’re on 2024. We need solutions now.

Nicholas Gaudern: We gotta, how many gigawatts is going in

Allen Hall: next year?

Yeah, way more than we even want to think about, honestly, because the consequences of doing. Having leading edge erosion problems offshore gets super expensive in the United States.

The opposition to offshore wind is at fever pitch at the moment. If they had to drag back. Blades to get repaired next to the New York, Boston, Philadelphia corridor, that would erupt. And you can’t have that. I think as an industry, you can’t have it as maybe as an OEM, you could survive it. But as an operator, I don’t know if that would really help your case.

Nicholas Gaudern: I think that the kind of event right now at this symposium. It is bringing lots of the right people together. Operators, OEMs, academia, third parties, all have to be talking together. You need to share as much knowledge as possible so that people don’t have to go and repeat a test all the time because they want their own data.

Allen Hall: It’s true. It’s nice to have your own data, but that data on a backup, what is published, right? It’s that validation piece. Fine. Go run the test and we’re going to go visit the R& D test systems, Rainerose facility that are building at DTU, which is supposedly magnificent. It sounds magnificent and we’re going to go tour that tomorrow.

So I’m really interested to see how tight the controls are. This is getting back to the variability problem. Rainerose and testing, one of the complaints obviously is, Every rain erosion test facility, that’s not R& D test systems rigged. That gives you a different result. R& D test systems just narrowed that down quite a bit, for sure.

Again, the variability is too much, and yeah, that’s why an OEM goes out and repeats these tests, is because they know, I can get a different result.

Nicholas Gaudern: But yeah, it’s a big time suck that we can’t necessarily afford.

Allen Hall: No, but if I’m if I’m an OEM today. And I don’t have an internal rain erosion test set. I know where I’m going.

Yes. I’m coming to Roskilde. I’m going to the DTU rain erosion facility because they know what they’re doing and they have the best, going to have the best facility in the world. And the consistency of that test should be better than anything else you can get. And even just talking to some of the people that work there their knowledge of rain erosion and the types of variables that apply in that test was.

Astounding. I’ve been around main rosin testing a long time, almost 30 years. So I’ve seen a lot of it that is going to be crazy. Great. Yeah. It’s fantastic. Rodolfo Nicholas. This has been fantastic. It’s great to see you. Yeah. I’d like to see you in some place where it’s warmer. We got to get to Brazil.

We got to get to Brazil.

Rodolfo Meleiro: It always gets snowy. You’re going to the wrong place. You go to Brazil. There’s no snow anywhere.

Allen Hall: Yes. Yeah. We should go to Brazil sometime. But yeah I appreciate you having me on the podcast and this has been fantastic. So maybe we’ll see you here next year. Absolutely. For the sixth. Thanks for having me. All right. Pleasure.

Leading Edge Erosion : Solutions and Takeaways from the International Symposium

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Is Tesla Powerwall Worth It For Australian Houses In 2025?

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Australia, a country of vast open space and abundant sunlight, has firmly established itself as a global leader in rooftop solar adoption.  

According to recent data, the country has over 3.9 million rooftop systems installed, yielding a combined capacity of approximately 37.8 GW of PV. This remarkable achievement reflects the country’s strong commitment to a sustainable energy future. 

But what happens when the sun goes down or when the grid fails?  

Yes, that’s where home battery storage steps in, and no name resonates more loudly than Tesla Powerwall! 

With the release of the Powerwall 3 and evolving energy landscapes, many Australian homeowners are asking: Is a Tesla Powerwall still a worthwhile investment in 2025?  

If you’re an Australian looking for a home solar battery, Tesla Powerwall is arguably the most popular home battery on the energy market right now.  

So, here’s why Tesla Powerwall could be worth it for your Australian home!

But First, What Is Tesla Powerwall?

Back in 2015, Tesla ventured into the energy storage market with the Tesla Powerwall, a home battery system. This battery system is specially designed to store energy, mitigating the intermittency of renewable energy sources. 

Although Tesla was globally recognized for its electric vehicles, the launch of the storage battery, the Tesla Powerwall, marked another bold leap for the company.  

This home energy storage is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can keep your home illuminated 24/7 with reliable power and significantly reduce your electricity bills. 

Powerwall’s smart system can be tailored to your specific energy requirements. This battery can be charged from solar energy, ensuring that power is always available on demand. It essentially serves as a backup power source for nighttime or cloudy days.  

Following their initial release in 2015 in limited quantities, Tesla has continually expanded its energy lineup with larger-scale solutions.  

In 2025, Tesla’s lineup includes three Powerwall models: Powerwall 2, Powerwall+, and Powerwall 3. Each model offers 13.5 kWh of usable energy storage.  

In Australia, Powerwall+ and Powerwall 3 are designed for new solar and storage system installations, which involve integrating solar inverters for higher efficiency. At the same time, Powerwall 2 is often used for retrofitting existing solar systems. 

Now, they also offer different categories, such as the Powerpack, designed for commercial and industrial use, and the Megapack, engineered to support utility-scale grid operations, among others. 

How Does Powerwall Work? Find Out!

In general, the Tesla Powerwall is a rechargeable home battery system that stores energy for later use while providing essential security and financial benefits.  

It works seamlessly with solar panels or the electric grid to manage energy supply and demand in your home.   

It includes energy monitoring, metering, and smart controls, which the owner can customize and control via the Tesla app.  

The system then learns and adapts to your energy consumption slowly over time. It receives over-the-air updates to add new features and improve existing ones.  

How Does Powerwall Work

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how it works: 

Step 1:  Energy Collection 

  • With Solar Panels 

Your solar panels usually generate electricity during the day. From that, some of this energy powers your home, while the excess charges the Powerwall battery.

  • Without Solar 

If you don’t have solar panels, the Powerwall can charge using electricity from the grid when rates are low, for example, at night.

Step 2:  Energy Storage 

  • The Powerwall stores the unused electricity in its lithium-ion battery. 
  • This stored energy is saved for when you need it most, like during peak usage times, at night, or during a power outage.  

Step 3:  Energy Usage 

  • When solar production drops or the grid goes down, the Powerwall automatically kicks in, supplying your home with clean, stored renewable energy.

Step 4. Intelligent Management with the Tesla App 

  • The system learns your energy usage patterns and optimizes when to charge or discharge.
  • You can monitor and control everything through the Tesla app, giving you real-time insight into your energy use, storage levels, and solar generation.

The Australian Energy Rollercoaster: Why Batteries Are More Relevant Than Ever?

Undoubtedly, Tesla Powerwall 3 is one of the most exciting innovations to hit the market in recent years. Tesla’s next-gen home battery is designed to supercharge solar systems and dramatically reduce the reliance on the grid.  

For Australian homeowners, it’s a total game-changer, offering a smarter way to store solar energy and power homes more efficiently than ever before. 

Curious about the other benefits of the Tesla Powerwall 3? In the following part, we’ve rounded them all up for you: 

  • Powerwall Batteries Maximize Self-Consumption  

Using your own solar power, especially during the expensive evening peak, saves you significantly more than exporting it to the grid.  

The Powerwall stores your excess daytime solar to power your home at night with free, clean energy. 

  • Battery Storage Reduced Electricity Bills 

Adding a Powerwall battery to your solar panel can drastically reduce your reliance on grid electricity during peak hours, leading to substantial savings on your energy bills.  

Some reports suggest adding solar batteries has reduced electricity bills by over 70% in many Aussie homes in the past few years. 

  • Ensure Energy Independence & Security 

The Powerwall provides seamless backup power for essential appliances, ensuring your lights stay on, your fridge stays cold, and your devices stay charged during any unexpected blackouts. 

  • Smart Energy Management 

The Tesla app provides intuitive monitoring and control over your energy usage. You can track your solar generation, battery charge, and household consumption in real time. 

This allows you to optimize your energy habits and maximize savings. 

  • Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Participation 

Through VPP, you can earn money by letting your battery support the grid during high-demand hours.  

This will benefit your wallet and contribute to a more stable and renewable energy network for everyone. 

  • Environmental Impact 

Batteries can reduce your reliance on fossil fuel-generated electricity, significantly lower your carbon footprint, and contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable future for Australia. 

  • Increased Home Value and Building Aesthetics 

Homes with solar and battery systems are increasingly attractive to buyers. They often command a premium due to lower running costs and increased energy resilience.

Tesla Powerwall 2 vs Powerwall+ vs Powerwall 3: The Evolution of Home Energy

Tesla’s Powerwall series has become a symbol of energy independence. From the Powerwall 2 to the all-in-one Powerwall+, and now the game-changing Powerwall 3, Tesla continues to push the boundaries of home energy storage. 

Let’s break down what makes each Powerwall unique and why Powerwall 3 is the most powerful one yet. 

Tesla Powerwall 2: The Energy Game-Changer

Launched in 2016, the Powerwall 2 was a massive leap in energy storage for homeowners.  

It is ideal for those with existing solar systems or those seeking basic backup and energy optimization. 

Key Highlights: 

  • 13.5 kWh usable capacity, which is sufficient to power an average home overnight.
  • 5 kW continuous power output. 
  • Backup power during outages.
  • Sleek wall-mounted design.
  • App-controlled smart energy management. 

Powerwall+: Energy Storage Meets Solar Intelligence

The Powerwall+ is built on the foundation of Powerwall 2 and adds a major upgrade: an integrated solar inverter. 

Why It’s Smarter: 

  • Same 13.5 kWh battery capacity.
  • Higher peak power output (up to 7.6 kW) 
  • Integrated solar inverter with 4 MPPTs (Maximum Power Point Trackers)
  • Optimized for real-time solar generation and storage.

Powerwall 3

Powerwall 3: The Energy Upgrade Your Home’s Been Waiting For

Announced in late 2023 and rolling out through 2024, Powerwall 3 is Tesla’s most powerful home battery yet. It’s designed to meet modern energy needs, including higher loads, faster charging, and seamless integration with large-scale solar systems. 

What’s New: 

  • 11.5 kW of continuous power, which is more than double Powerwall 2 
  • Still offers 13.5 kWh capacity.
  • Integrated solar inverter with expanded capabilities
  • Designed for quicker installation and lower labor cost
  • Ideal for large homes, EV charging, or heavy appliance use 

So, with all these incredible upgrades, making it smarter, more efficient, and future-ready, don’t you think Tesla Powerwall is worth it?  

What else could you ask for? We’re pretty sure this is the battery your home’s been waiting for! 

The Actual Cost of a Tesla Powerwall: Is it Worth It?

Let’s not sugarcoat it, a Tesla Powerwall is a significant investment. As of mid-2025, the Powerwall 3 unit itself costs approximately AUD 11,900, with the essential Backup Gateway 2 adding $1,700. This brings the total hardware cost to approximately $13,600 AUD. 

Installation costs can range from $1,000 to $ 2,500 or more, depending on your location, system complexity, and the installer.  

This puts the total installed cost of a single Powerwall 3 in the ballpark of $14,600 to $16,000 AUD. 

While this might seem steep, it’s crucial to factor in the various incentives and potential savings.

The Australian Government’s Rebates and Incentives in 2025

Good news for Australian homeowners! 2025 is a sweet spot for solar battery rebates, with a significant federal program coming into play: 

  • Federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program (Starts July 1, 2025) 

The Australian Government has announced an upfront discount of approximately 30% on the cost of installing eligible small-scale battery systems (between 5 kWh and 50 kWh).  

For a 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 3, this could translate to a rebate of around $4,725. The discount is based on usable capacity and will gradually decrease until 2030, making 2025 the optimal time to jump in.  

The discount is applied upfront by accredited installers, making it easy for consumers. 

  • State-Based Incentives 

While the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) battery rebate ends on June 30, 2025, it will be replaced by an expanded Virtual Power Plants (VPP) incentive from July 1, 2025, offering a single upfront payment of up to $1,500.  

Other states like Victoria (interest-free battery loan up to $8,800), ACT ($15,000 interest-free loan), and Western Australia (up to $7,500 rebate and loans) continue to offer their own incentives.  

Altogether, these rebates dramatically lower battery costs, often by 30–50%, making the Powerwall 3 far more accessible.  

Top 5 Tesla Powerwall Alternatives Available in Australia

The Australian battery storage market is vibrant and competitive. While Tesla is a dominant player, several other reputable brands also offer excellent alternatives. 

Looking for something beyond Tesla Powerwall?  

Here we’ve listed some of the best battery brands in Australia in 2025: 

  1. LG Energy Solution RESU: Known for their reliability and various capacity options. 
  2. BYD Battery-Box: A popular choice for its modularity and competitive pricing. 
  3. Sungrow: Offers a range of battery solutions, often paired with their inverters. 
  4. Enphase Encharge: A good option for microinverter-based solar systems, offering modularity and resilience. 
  5. Alpha ESS: Alpha ESS battery provides integrated solar and battery solutions. 

Parting Thoughts

Tesla’s Powerwall ecosystem offers energy resilience, grid independence, and smart control. With the release of Powerwall 3, Tesla is responding to the growing demand for higher capacity, smarter tech, and easier installs. 

In Australia, the home battery market is gaining traction, with data showing that the majority of homeowners are opting for the Tesla Powerwall.  

So, whether you’re going solar for the first time or upgrading your energy system, the Powerwall lineup has top-notch options tailored for your home. 

By the end of 2021, battery installations had increased by 400%, and the majority chose the Tesla Powerwall. With our affordable solar packages, you can make your dream of owning a Tesla Powerwall a reality.   

Still unsure?  

Contact a certified installer, such as Cyanergy, to explore your options tailored to your home, location, and future needs. Get a free quote today and learn more about the Tesla Powerwall battery price, rebate availability, and installation details.

Your Solution Is Just a Click Away

The post Is Tesla Powerwall Worth It For Australian Houses In 2025? appeared first on Cyanergy.

Is Tesla Powerwall Worth It For Australian Houses In 2025?

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IWTG Consulting Addresses Turbine Failures

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Weather Guard Lightning Tech

IWTG Consulting Addresses Turbine Failures

Jon Zalar, founder of IWTG Consulting, discusses the challenges of wind turbine maintenance, emphasizing the rise in turbine failures and the importance of root cause analysis (RCA). Proactive maintenance, proper documentation, and expert consultation will help to mitigate issues and ensure turbine efficiency.

Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on FacebookYouTubeTwitterLinkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining light on Wind. Energy’s brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering tomorrow.

Allen Hall 2025: Jon, welcome to the program.

Jonathan Zalar: Thanks for having me,

Allen Hall 2025: Jon. Let’s start with the reality facing wind farmer operators today. What’s the core problem when it comes to turbine failures?

Jonathan Zalar: There’s been a larger number than they probably experienced like five years ago. I think, um, you know, the volume of turbines out there and some of the bigger issues that, you know, people are seeing in the last two to three years has made owning a wind farm a little more challenging than before.

Um, you know, between blade issues, bolted joint issues, shoes, and. Overall, like o operations, right? It’s been tougher to keep these turbines up and running, you know, manpower’s an issue, getting people out there to go fix stuff. It’s, [00:01:00] it’s been tough for a lot of people I’ve talked to.

Joel Saxum: Do you think this is a, a partial result of like, um, okay, so what we’re, you know, on the podcast in the last few years, we’ve always been talking about, oh, there’s all kinds of models coming out and there’s this, this manufacturer can put out this many different variations and all these things, and now.

Now we’re getting to the age where that family, that group of turbines that, I guess it’s kind, I’m looking at it like a class, right? That class of, that, those years of turbines are now getting to the stage where they’re out of warranty and they’re coming into, some people are taking, you know, ISPs taking, um, maintenance of them or an owner operator taking maintenance over from the OEM.

And all of a sudden now there’s these issues popping up and different things that we’re, we’re kind of in this. Um, like a swamp of problems with a lot of different models. So, uh, yeah, like you said, we’ve we’re, we talked a little bit off air here about RCAs and how to fix things and looking at serial defects and stuff, but it’s just like, it seems like every other week [00:02:00] someone calls Alan Ryan’s like, Hey, have you heard about this thing with this model?

And it’s like, man,

Jonathan Zalar: another one. I think it’s a combination of two things. One. Like I talked about the last time we had podcasts, there was a, you know, a pretty big push to increase rotor size, come out with new models for, for every, for all the os, right? They’re competing against each other. Coming out with a new model every 18 months.

And you can ask Phil, but I believe mostly the OEMs are sold out. If you go back five, six years, where. A huge expansion in the amount of wind turbines that have been placed. Right. So I think you combine those cheap factors and now, yeah, the owners have a lot on their plate, a lot more than they’re

Allen Hall 2025: probably used to.

And my question all is this, the complexity of the turbines. So every new model that comes out, what I’m seeing is more instrumentation, more sensors, more stuff, more variability, even in where the components originate from.

Jonathan Zalar: Right? Yeah. [00:03:00] I mean, to increase, to be able to meet that increased demand the OEMs had to get, you know, a lot of different suppliers for bearings for, you know, maybe two or three different places to make blades, right?

Um, and you’re right about the complexity, right? So like these rowers are getting bigger. They were trying to keep as many components the same. So you need better sensing, better controls to, you know, keep those loads where they work.

Allen Hall 2025: And a lot of times, uh, when operators have problems, they don’t actually realize.

What to do or realize that maybe there’s a serial defect and how to address it and how to suss that out. Now the, the big question is, is like what’s at stake if the operators don’t implement some sort of proper root cause analysis? Uh, what does that sort of downward spiral look like? Because we have seen operators that do that, that, that don’t try to identify key issues with their turbines.

I

Jonathan Zalar: mean, at the end of the day, it costs money, right? So if the quicker you figure out an [00:04:00] issue and if it’s a solution for an issue, the quicker you’re gonna solve that problem for your site or your fleet. Um. Also like making sure you’re communicating with the OEM about your failures so that they can add them to their RCA if they’re working on one, for example.

The more data they have, it’s gonna help them come up with a more effective solution.

Joel Saxum: I think you’re, you’ve gotta, how to put this? You have to have a specific engineering mindset. So of course we’re dealing with engineers all day long. We’re all engineers. We enjoy the engineering mindset. So it’s easy for us to quantify ROI and value add from an RCA, right?

So, hey, we’re gonna bring in an expert, or we’re gonna bring in a consultant, or whether it’s a, you know, a big one, A DNV, a UL type, or it’s a Jon Zalar, it’s gonna cost us a little bit of money, right? It’s gonna cost us. 5, 10, 20, 30 grand, what, whatever that is. But to us, that ROI is easy to quantify, oh, we had [00:05:00] this issue on this turbine.

We’re gonna spend 20 grand figuring out why, what, how, and how we fix it in the future. Well now we can avoid that blade failure. Next time we can avoid, you know, a de deductible on an insurance case, $250,000. So boom, we, if we save one of those, we paid for the whole RCA. It’s easy for us to do that in that engineering mindset, but to get, sometimes to get.

You know, an asset manager who may not have that engineering mindset, they’re just looking at, um, dollars and cents. They’re like, yeah, do we wanna spend this money? And, and I, I think that that’s a, uh, uh, a mindset, a, an action, an operation that, you know, us as evangelists for engineering in the industry need to help because we can help it in a large scale, right?

Like if we, if we solve these problems through RCAs. Then we can avoid ’em in the future and it’s better LCOE for the entire fleet. That’s the goal,

Jonathan Zalar: right? Like even if you identify an issue and you have the ability to figure out how many [00:06:00] turbines are affected and like we use a Blade Blade issue, right? If you only catch the CAT five, that’s a much more expensive repair than a cat two or three.

So if you work with somebody to identify, hey, this lat or you know, this list of turbines have a better chance of having this problem, let’s inspect it a little more, for example. Or let’s proactively add some strength in one area that we know we’re seeing issues that could save a lot of money in the long run.

’cause blade repairs are expensive. They take time, weather out. It just adds up.

Allen Hall 2025: And what I see when Joel and I have been around a lot of, uh, wind turbines in the Midwest, is that the asset managers. Get a lot of complaints from the neighbors and the landowners. So if they have a blade break or they have some sort of bearing that’s going bad, that’s making a lot of noise.

It’s a constant set of phone calls from the surrounding landowners about this problem. So even in the simple things. That can be [00:07:00] fixed, turn into big problems because of all the associated people that are around it. I mean, Joel, you’ve, you’ve seen some of these cases where, like a bearing’s squeaking, okay.

And the neighbor complains, or a blade breaks and the, and the owner calls up and say, Hey, why is this blade in my front yard? Which has happened? And those are real life situations that, that. You know, re requires somebody with knowledge to catch them before they turn into that neighborhood problem. Yeah.

That’s

Joel Saxum: the intrinsic side of, of the return on investment, right? Like, you can’t measure that, but it’s valuable. And, and I, and we get, this concept comes up a lot to us because we’ve been doing a lot of work in Australia lately, and Australia has a different approach to their neighbors and how they work within things.

And it’s very, very, very hands-on. Where in the states sometimes you see like, oh, well, they’re a non-participating landowner, so we just kinda, you know, move on. And then you see the Facebook posts that are like, these turbines take a thousand gallons of [00:08:00] oil a year and they never run. You know? And if we can, as an industry, if we can avoid those things by getting on top of stuff with RCA, we can, we can get ahead of the game, right?

We can change the perception of, of renewables as we move forward. Um, which is, I mean, it’s a difficult battle, but that’s, as engineers, we can, we can help that fight. So I think that this is an important thing. That’s why we’re talking to you, Joe.

Jonathan Zalar: Yeah, I agree. I mean the, the video of the guy who was asking why it wasn’t turning, ’cause there was no wind.

I’ll never forget that one.

Allen Hall 2025: So how do we break this cycle of reactive maintenance and repeated failures? What should we be doing?

Jonathan Zalar: Continuing that relationship with the OEM, making sure you’re having those monthly quarterly calls, sharing information back to them and making sure that you’re getting the updated information from them.

Because, you know, all the major OEMs have like information letters they provide when there’s an a known issue and they give recommendations of what to do to fix it. And just making sure that you’re plugged in, especially the smaller owners that you’re plugged into the oem, just make sure you get that [00:09:00] information.

You know, some could be a parameter setting or a increase inspection or, or a safety concern as well. Just keeping that relationship I think is important.

Joel Saxum: So, Jon, so continue on that, that thread at what, at what point does. Because not everybody is able to keep that relationship really good. And sometimes OEMs don’t wanna share a little bit, at what point does an operator say, I’m taking on an RCA myself.

I’m going to get a consultant in here. Or we’re gonna take it on in our internal team. what, how do you make that call?

Jonathan Zalar: It’s looking at their relationship and if it’s not there, and that does happen. There’s breakups in the industry, if you will, and. You see three or four of the same failures at a, 50 wind turbine park.

it should be a little bit of a yellow flag. I wouldn’t say red yet, but one turbine fell over. That’s a red flag, and that’s when if you’re not getting what you need and you don’t know what to do about it, that’s when you call somebody else out because. [00:10:00] The next one’s gonna be just as expensive, and there could have been a way to make it either cheaper or not happen.

Allen Hall 2025: let’s, get down to specifics now, because I think a lot of problems in the United States are related to bolts at the minute, and I, this may be a worldwide problem, that there seems to be blade bolts and pitch bearing bolts that are. Have cracked or are failing in some unique ways. And I’ve seen more recently where operators are just replacing them.

Like they, they don’t think about it in a larger context of maybe there’s a problem here. Maybe I need to be flagging these things. And they don’t bring in an expert like you, Jon, to come in and do an RCA To suss this out, you want, can you give us just a little bit of background on what’s happening on the, blade bolt and pitch bearing bolt problem?

Jonathan Zalar: It is multiple OEMs are having. I think three or four different failure modes that I’ve heard so far between root inserts, just the bullet joint itself, and then potentially just some initial torquing issues. Um, I know from my experience there have [00:11:00] been update updates to the bold, the bolt torque.

Specifications. And back to my comment about the relationships, like if you’re not getting that information, then you might not know. You should have went back and retort all these bolts and now you have a couple fail. Fail. Right? And then also what you do about it, when you have one that comes out, do you replace just the one or do you replace four to the left and four to the right?

So d different solutions I have seen from different OEMs about what to do when you do have one particular bolt fail. Um, you know, there’s definitely some potential supplier concerns. ’cause like I said, there’s been so many turbines with so many bolts, like you’re gonna have some manufacturing issues. You can’t get over that With the volume of bolts that are out there.

Joel Saxum: Do you think the technology innovations in bolting and tensioning tools right now are gonna help or hinder. Bolting problem.

Jonathan Zalar: I think they’re gonna help. Um, you know, [00:12:00]torquing, big bolts have been a problem in multiple industries. Even when I worked in locomotives, you know, getting high torque to come out with the right size tool to be able to get in there, to go, to go put the locomotive back on the frame.

Right. It is a very hard job. And you had mean you looking at 92 bolts on one axis, then you got tower bolts. I mean, it’s a very, very boring job, I’m assuming for the people that have to do that. All the time and having tools that make it easier, have a, have a less chance of not hitting that torque value, setting something wrong, not putting the tool in properly at an angle, for example.

I, I think the more, at least what I’ve been seeing recently, the more money and effort people are putting into, like making bolted joints. Is gonna be worth it.

Joel Saxum: Well, and I think this is why, like this is the importance of an RCA, right? Because at that level of, say, new construction or repowers, people are just pointing fingers like, oh, the technicians did this wrong, or whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Or you get an RCA specialist to come in and can do, you know, the [00:13:00]eight eight DRCA or if they throw an RCA and figure this thing out properly and be able to point to, well, actually there’s a. A metallurgical defect in these bolts and you know, it’s a supplier issue or, or maybe it does the RC may point, Hey, these guys were at the bar the night before they torked this one or something.

You

Jonathan Zalar: know? Or, or could be like crew a just happens to not pay attention or, or had or had the wrong information. They had the old bolted joint, this tribal knowledge.

Joel Saxum: Exactly. And speaking about the problem there, like if we’re down the line, say now out of warranty, and we’re looking at a bolted connection issue.

It may point to once you’ve stretched those bolts a certain amount, if you’re re torquing or changing torque specs or something along the way that’s done, like that’s cash, like that doesn’t, it doesn’t work like that called yield.

Jonathan Zalar: Yes.

Allen Hall 2025: Well, especially composites though, when you start talking about these bushings that are in the blades.

You pull them, they’re, they don’t recover. They just get damaged. It’s not like some metal and it can stretch. You don’t really stretch [00:14:00] composites. You break composites.

Jonathan Zalar: Right. Once it loose is once it’s loose, it is adherence, it’s done right. You have to go do something, get it back. And I know there’s some technologies out there trying to fix some of these inserts, but yeah, like once you do that damage.

It doesn’t heal itself.

Allen Hall 2025: Right. And I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about that right now in the field because it, they’re not talking to engineers. They feel like, well, we’ll just cinch it back up and it’ll be okay. No, that joint is done. It’s done. You need to have somebody come in and look at it and give you some really good advice.

Joel Saxum: So to get to that level, Jon, you need to go through an investigation process. Can you give us some of the like, tips and tricks for the investigation process that like, that you know of, that you, that have helped you in the past? Data quality is very important,

Jonathan Zalar: like making sure, you know, like what turbine, which bolts, how many bolts, when did it happen, when were they last touched?

Like documentation is not always the best in the field. There’s a lot of handwritten stuff I [00:15:00] know that, you know. Companies are getting much better with electronic documentation, but that didn’t always exist in the beginning, like four or five years ago, surprisingly. Um, and then also like having the expectations where an RCA doesn’t take a month.

If someone, if someone calls you up and says, I need an RCA in a month, they don’t want RCA, that’s it. They’re not that fast. You really need to look at what’s going on, collect the data, put a hypothesis together, and. Validate or invalidate it and repeat if needed. And then you have corrective action. And that takes time.

That takes a commitment from the customer as well as you know, whoever they’re working with.

Allen Hall 2025: And that corrective action is the real key. But it’s hard to get to the corrective action if you don’t know what the root cause is. I see a lot of corrective actioning happening out in the field. Like they assume they know what’s happened, but not the details.

And you’re right, Jon, it’s gonna take more than a couple of days. To suss this out because there’s too [00:16:00] many variables and there’s not a lot of information, particularly when you show up on site. A lot of operators haven’t kept the real detailed records that you would need to be able to point it in in an afternoon.

Like, yes, this is it. Right?

Jonathan Zalar: Unless it’s a known issue that you’re not aware of and somebody else tells you, oh, yeah. G has his tail go do this, whatever this is. Right.

Allen Hall 2025: And how does that play out between the different OEMs at the minute? Are they basically providing the same level of information about, uh, known problems?

I have very little experience with like, um, I don’t know. Intercon for example, I haven’t seen a lot of Intercon service bulletins. I’ve seen Seaga Mesas and GEs Iveta. They’re pretty on top of it, but there’s other turbines that are out there, Solan. Well, how does that work?

Jonathan Zalar: That’s a very good question.

’cause I’m not seeing very many from Intercon or Solan either. And I believe they have some bigger companies that are responsible for them now. Um, [00:17:00] it’d be interesting to see. What kind of level that a turbine, that old without, you know, their OEM’s gone. Right. Someone else bought ’em out at some point.

Allen Hall 2025: Well, it’s like the Mitsubishi 1000 A’s, which is a really good example because a lot of the Mitsubishi 1000 A’s, and there are a number of them still in the states are, are being repowered at the minute.

So they’re gonna have another 20 years of lifetime. But I, you know, Mitsubishi probably doesn’t really provide a lot of service on those. What do you do? If you have an issue on a Mitsubishi or an old Suland machine or even an old GAA machine, where are you going to get help? I

Jonathan Zalar: mean, you, you really need to go to like an independent engineer that has that kind of experience, you know, hopefully with that particular turbine model.

But if not, you know, people who do follow known RCA processes, we will be able to like work through issues like that.

Allen Hall 2025: Is there a network of RCA people in the industry? I know you. Because you’re the [00:18:00] best. So, I mean, I’m talking to you all the time, Jon. I’ve seen this problem of the turbine tell me what’s going on.

But is there a, a general network of people that are just out there focused on solving these problems?

Jonathan Zalar: I don’t think the market’s huge in that right now. I mean, yes, there’s some independent people like myself, and then you have your DNB Leidos, those type of companies that that will do RCAs. But I don’t think they have dedicated RCA teams.

I think. The OEMs are the ones with the dedicated OEMs and then a handful of people like me.

Allen Hall 2025: So let’s, let’s walk through that for a minute, because one of the questions that pops up when someone’s trying to solve a problem is like, why not bring in a big organization like the one you just mentioned to, to do the RCA?

Like we, we, we’ve hired, uh, the three letter acronym to come in and do the RCR, the two letter acronym to come in and do the RCA. There’s a downside to that. I think I, I’m not always sure that the, the competency is there based [00:19:00] upon the, just what I see for the level of person that’s been assigned to that.

When they have so many RCAs and requests coming into the door, can they. Manage it at a level that you as the customer would be happy with.

Jonathan Zalar: I don’t deal with it too much, but you’re right, it, it will depend on the person you get Right. When you’re using one of the bigger one. Right. And you know, I’m sure some customers have the opposite, like, oh, I got the best guide or girl I could get for this.

Right.

Allen Hall 2025: Have you seen the varying in quality there, Joel? Like if you just call out the big name and pick up the phone and call the name. You don’t always know what you’re getting

Joel Saxum: there. We know, we know some really good people in the industry that has specific problems, but the trouble is, is scaling engineering expertise is tough.

Right. So like if you have a, you have a Jon Zalar on the phone, you get an awesome engineer that knows how to do RCAs, but you only get Jon Zalar, right? You, you, you can’t expand that. A million things like Jon Zalar can’t take out 58 RCAs this week because he’s Jon Zalar. Whereas, whereas I think that some of the [00:20:00] bigger houses, you get the strength of having a, uh, the larger team behind some of them where they can kind of spread some work out.

Or you may have an expert in fracture mechanics that he can look at this and somewhat so you have that with the larger teams, which I think is an advantage and you get some varying opinions in the room and you can really sort down to certain things. But at the end of the day it, it, it’s exactly that.

It’s an engineering expertise shortage

Jonathan Zalar: off. You know, it’s also nice when they have a good network. Of people that they’ve worked with in the past to bounce ideas off of. Because like if you’re the only one doing RCA all on your own, you’re gonna second guess yourself a lot. But like having somebody who does have.

A lot of contacts and colleagues in the industry. I think that’s very helpful.

Allen Hall 2025: Well, a new avenue for root cause analysis is looking at the service providers. I’ve noticed that, uh, you know, it’s one thing if a product comes to an OEM, you, you kind of know what you’re dealing with there. But when a company’s out there, uh, independent service provider or maybe some out there on a contract is [00:21:00] doing work on your turbine.

Now RCAs are looking into those service providers. Jon, are you involved with some of those discussions?

Jonathan Zalar: It’s, you know, not just the service provider, it’s even like who’s doing the work. Are they actually doing what they say they’re doing? Um, are they following the OEMs maintenance schedule correctly? Um, you know, especially some of the owners that farm out the whole operations to somebody else.

Double checking their work, I think is important just to make sure, I mean, you, even if you have total control and people, but just having a second set of eyes doing some quality checks. I, I, I don’t think that enough of that’s being done in the industry at this point. I think there’s opportunity to get

Joel Saxum: better.

The bird dog concept, right? The bird like oil and gas is bird dogs everywhere in the onshore, offshore. Anything you do, they gotta, they got a client rep who is rolling around making [00:22:00] sure things are done right. And I think we need that in wind too. And it’s not any different if you look at the same thing.

Remote operations people are like, oh, wind farms are all over the place. Like, have you looked at any other In industry, it’s the same thing.

Jonathan Zalar: It it, it’s harder. There’s more of them and they don’t move, like, you know, like a locomotive or automobile, right. Where they come to the shop and you can overlook, see what somebody did.

But yeah, like spending that money and effort on. Quality, I think could go a long way. And one of the ways would be the bird dog method that you suggested.

Allen Hall 2025: Yeah, I do think some of the issues we’re seeing in the field are related to particular groups that have touched the turbines, and maybe they just don’t have the latest and greatest information from the OE em, or maybe they’re just winging it, but either case, uh, the sampling there needs to happen and it really gets down to knowing what’s happening with your turbine.

And then when it doesn’t seem right. Getting an expert on site to take a look and make sure that your turbine is operating like you think it should and [00:23:00]it should be producing like it should, because if anything, we know right now production is key. We need those turbines up and running. Jon, you know, a lot of people call us and ask us, how do I get ahold of Za LR?

Do you have an email for Jon? How do people get ahold of you? I send ’em to your website, i wtg consulting.com. But they, you know, they want your mobile number, which I try to avoid giving them, but how do they, how do they reach you?

Jonathan Zalar: Um, the website, it’s got a form there. Um, they can also email me at Jay zr@iwtgconsulting.com.

Allen Hall 2025: Well, you can see Jon on LinkedIn. It has a lot of good posts on LinkedIn and you’ll see him. Around the country and the world at different symposiums and discussions about wind turbine operations. Uh, and you can always feel free to talk to Jon Jon’s easy to talk to. So Jon, so thank you so much for being on the podcast.

We love having you. Thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate it. It was [00:24:00] fun.

https://weatherguardwind.com/iwtg-consulting-failures/

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The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

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Weather Guard Lightning Tech

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

A design that causes massive problems

As wind turbine operators continue to expand their fleets worldwide with larger turbines, bigger generators, and longer blades, the risk of significant lightning damage continues to plague the industry. Lightning is now the leading cause of unplanned turbine downtime for many operators. In years past, OEM warranties or insurance would cover the costs of repairs and business interruption. Those days are gone. OEMs have eliminated lightning damage from warranties and insurance companies are dramatically raising rates, or eliminating coverage, for lightning damage. That leaves operators exposed to millions in repair bills every year.

The SafeReceptor ILPS System

The basic lightning protection systems for LM Wind Power blades has been two small, coin-sized receptors placed on either side of the blade tip. Designated as the SafeReceptor ILPS, the receptors are connected to an insulated metal cable that runs through the center of the blade which connects to the hub, nacelle, tower and eventually earth. Certified to IEC61400-24, the SafeReceptor ILPS has been used on most onshore LM Wind Power blades since 2011.

LM Wind Power would, occasionally, place a special, additional lightning protection feature onto their blades. Patented in 2005, this lightning add-on contained a line of stainless steel cross-shaped buttons in a soft, gray-colored sealant which formed a segmented lightning diverter. As lightning approached a blade, the LM segmented lightning diverter helped guide the lightning to the receptor, lowering the chance of lightning damage to the blade.

LM Wind Power, and eventually TPI Composites, used the LM Wind Power segmented lightning diverter. Most installations of the LM segmented lightning diverter placed the device behind the receptor – using the receptor to block rain and airflow impact. The reason? If the LM Wind Power diverter was directly exposed to the wind and rain it would eventually degrade.

Remarkably, the LM diverter strip was used sparingly, or not at all, on the LM/TPI 56.9m and 62.2m blades. As it turns out, the 56.9m / 62.2m are unusually vulnerable to lightning damage. In a WGLT study of over 900 GE Vernova onshore turbines in Texas and Oklahoma with blades exceeding 50m, the rate of lightning damage was approximately 1 in 5 strikes. The industry standard for lightning damage is roughly 1 in 50 strikes per the IEC standard. That results highlight a gigantic risk for wind turbine operators.

Presumably in response to these high damage rates, GE Vernova has introduced LPS “improvements” to the 56.9m and 62.2m blades. Two additional receptors have been added to the blade approximately 3m from the blade tip. Also, LM Wind Power diverter strips have been added to every receptor; with short pieces behind the tip receptors plus long pieces behind and in front of the two receptors down the blade.

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades
Latest GE Vernova 62.2m Blade Design

This is a risky decision by the blade designers at GE Vernova. Most lightning strikes occur when blades are pointed upwards towards the sky – and segmented lightning diverters provide maximum protection when they are also pointed towards the sky. GE Vernova placed the LM Wind Power diverters parallel with the airflow over the blade – perpendicular to the sky – which dramatically lowers their lightning protection ability.

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades
LM Wind Power Lightning Diverter Installation

Why are the LM Wind Power diverters not oriented upwards towards the storm clouds? Our research indicates that exposing the broad side of the diverter to rain erosion causes the part to fail.

Several years ago, Weather Guard Lightning Tech developed an accelerated rain erosion test rig to mimic rain erosion that appears on aircraft nose radomes and wind turbine blade tips. This test sprays water droplets onto test samples at 135 m/s (300 mph) and has yielded accurate predictions for lifetimes. WGLT examined the durability of the LM Wind Power diverters in our accelerated rain erosion test rig. The results were astonishing. The LM Wind Power diverter failed in under 1 minute for every orientation.

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

And here are the images of the test articles after rain erosion testing.

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

Sample 2 Post-Test 90 Degrees to Face of Diverter

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

Sample 5 Post-Test 0 Degrees to Side

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

Sample 6 Post-Test 0 Degrees to Leading Edge

Now, what does this mean for the lightning protection for your GE Vernova wind turbine blades with LM Wind Power diverters? You need to monitor the diverters for damage and peeling off the blade. Missing metal segments from a diverter or sections of diverter that have separated from the blade need to repaired or replaced.

The Lightning Diverter Problem with GE Vernova Blades

What’s the risk? Your blades are susceptible to significant lightning damage which could cost you $$$.

For more information about StrikeTape lightning protection technology and installation services, contact Weather Guard Wind at 1.413.217.1139 or info@wglightning.com.

About Weather Guard Wind: Weather Guard Wind specializes in advanced lightning protection solutions for wind energy applications, with installations protecting turbines worldwide in the most challenging lightning environments.

https://weatherguardwind.com/the-lightning-diverter-problem-with-ge-vernova-blades/

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