Chinese turbine makers to revive Swedish twin-blade model

Two Chinese wind turbine makers are jointly establishing a design and research institute for twin-blade turbines in Sweden – the birthplace of the technology.

Announced yesterday, the research by GC China Turbine Corp and Wuhan Guoce Nordic New Energy (GC Nordic) could lead to Chinese adoption of two-blade utility-scale turbines – a concept that originated in Sweden more than a decade ago, but failed to gain commercial success as three-blade models took control of the market.

The institute will be led by Tomas Lyrner, who was involved in the design and development of two-blade prototypes for Nordic Windpower with the help of a $75m (£45m) grant by the Swedish government.

The commercial failure of the two-blade design led Nordic Windpower to file for bankruptcy in Sweden in 2005. Its assets in the country were subsequently taken over by Swedish firm Deltawind AB.

In 2006, Deltawind established GC Nordic as a China-based joint venture in partnership with Wuhan Guoce Science & Technology, a provider of technology to the Chinese utility industry. Under the terms of the deal, Deltawind agreed to license Nordic Windpower's turbine technology to GC Nordic.

GC China Turbine claims to be the nation's only manufacturer of twin-blade turbines, which it produces in Hubei province. The company's flagship product is a 1.0MW utility-scale turbine based on Nordic Windpower's design.

The new Swedish joint venture institute will develop 2MW and 3MW two-blade turbines intended for use in large wind farms, both onshore and offshore. GC China Turbine said it will provide $1.75m in initial funding to the institute.

According to the company, twin-blade turbines are less expensive and easier to install than their three-bladed counterparts and also require less maintenance. It claims to have orders for 150 wind turbines, worth more than $128m.