Altitec, a global provider of turbine blade access, repair and inspection, has been appointed official installation partner of 3M’s renewable energy division. Altitec will be field-testing installing the 3M wind vortex generators.
3M developed its wind vortex generator in partnership with Smartblade. Altitec says the thermoplastic, aerodynamic enhancement – which can be quickly installed on a rotor blade – addresses aerodynamic issues common to most turbine blades. In turn, it can increase a turbine’s annual energy production by 2%-3%, Altitec adds.
“As one of 3M’s official installation partners, Altitec has completed trial installations at sites in Poland, Spain and Portugal and hopes to carry out further installations in Chile in the near future,” says Tom Dyffort, managing director of Altitec Group.
Altitec says the vortex generators have undergone extensive testing and analysis in order to ensure negligible increases in load and deflection when they are installed. Indeed, Altitec, in partnership with 3M and Smartblade, statistically analyzes each turbine to ensure the vortex generators are positioned to maximize the annual energy production yield of the turbine.
