Fruitful discussions between members of the wind turbine industry as part of the CORTIR project

​Last week, the entire value chain of the wind industry was gathered in Denmark at the CORTIR Midterm Meeting. Here the certification body DNV GL was invited to present their take on the limitations of the current certification standards. This led to a fruitful dialog between the WTOs (Wind Turbine Owners) and DNV GL. What was planned to be a 45 minutes presentation ended up taking almost 3 hours.

The whole value chain of the wind industry was gathered at the CORTIR Midterm Meeting

​On the 15th and 16th of January, the entire value chain was gathered at Bladena’s offices in Roskilde, Denmark to participate in the CORTIR Midterm Meeting. In total, 15 different WTO-companies were present. Some attended as CORTIR project partners, others from the Blade Group Network which now has grown to consist of 47 WTO companies. Amongst those were owners like EDF, E.ON, Ørsted, ENEL, Equinor and more.
On the first day, the certification body DNV GL was invited to speak about their take on the limitations of the current certification standards in the industry. Through the presentation, Dr. Christopher Harrison from DNV GL received a lot of questions questioning the integrity of the current standards. His response was positive and accommodating to the input received from all participants. ​“DNV GL appreciates collaboration from all stakeholders in the industry and plans to continue the relationships formed at the CORTIR seminar as our standards and guidelines evolve in the future,” says Christopher.

Picture Christopher Harrison, DNV GL present at the CORTIR Midterm Meeting

​After the presentation Nicolas Quievy, Technology Manager from Engie chaired the further discussion. “I was happy to chair a quite intense and fruitful session during the CORTIR Midterm Meeting. There is a common understanding that the industry can do better in reducing the lifecycle costs associated to blades by improving inspection strategies, utilizing full potential of certification standards, carrying out research projects to better assess failure modes seen in operation, etc,” says Nicolas. The discussion led to a constructive dialog on what the limitations are, how to move forward and how the WTOs can help the most. What was planned to be a 45 minutes presentation ended up taking nearly 3 hours of presentation and discussion. 

The recently improved DNV GL standards can be either required or recommended, depending on the subject. Therefore, a number of additional requirements have been developed by Bladena together with a group of WTOs and insurance companies.

Not only were the utility companies present. Also, the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) LM Wind Power and Nordex, ISPs (Independent Service Providers), the insurance company Codan, EUDP (Energy Technology and Demonstration Program) and other parties attended the meeting. This ensured a nuanced discussion influenced by the opinions of all parts of the value chain and is a good example of the progress and maturing that is happening in the wind industry. Beforehand the OEMs, WTOs, insurance companies, etc. operated separately where they now communicate more.
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From the start, the CORTIR project has been designed to unify and be accepted by the entire value chain in the wind industry. The outcome of the project is a Cost and Reliability Tool (CAR Tool) which is created to minimize the risk and cost associated with blade O&M.  The need for this tool is highly relevant as it supports the end-user in planning a cost-optimal maintenance strategy. For this tool to work properly, the value chain needs to cooperate instead of working separately as the data used to develop the tool have to be as reliable as possible.

After 20 years in the industry Find Mølholt Jensen, CTO, and founder of Bladena recognizes the changing behavior in the field: “It is good to see that the industry is maturing, and I am proud to have the entire value chain come together to bring down LCoE.” Find continues: “Projects like CORTIR have not only helped us develop highly useful technologies but also changed the way we collaborate within the industry. Our industry was built to make the world more sustainable and it is our responsibility to bring down repair and maintenance cost and increase the lifetime of blades to make the industry become even more sustainable than what it already is.”

The CORTIR project is now halfway through its duration. During the two days, Bladena also presented the latest advances within the project for the many attendees. This gave the opportunity for the many partners to give their feedback on what they would like to be implemented and what could be improved.

At the end of the seminar, the participants had the opportunity to join a workshop regarding a tip solution or join a wind tunnel test at DTU Wind.

The CORTIR project is supported by the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP), which is administered by the Danish Energy Agency.

For further information please visit www.bladena.com, https://cortirproject.weebly.com, and/or contact CORTIR Project Manager CTO Find Mølholt Jensen +45 53700276 [email protected].