Wind

World's longest wooden wind turbine blades set for testing

Indian manufacturer Senvion and start-up Voodin to trial LVL components in excess of 50 metres

Voodin installed wooden blades on a turbine in Germany last year.
Voodin installed wooden blades on a turbine in Germany last year.Photo: Voodin Blades
Editor, Recharge

The world's longest wooden wind turbine blades built so far are due to begin trial deployments next year.

Senvion has linked with Germany’s Voodin Blade Technology to trial the latter's blades on the Indian group’s 4.2MW turbine platform.

Start-up Voodin is developing blades using laminated veneer lumber (LVL), a material made up of thin wooden layers sealed together with adhesives that has a similar stiffness-to-weight ratio as the glass fibres typically used in conventional turbine blades.

As well as boosting the sustainability of turbines, Voodin’s CEO Tom Siekmann told Recharge in an interview last year that its manufacturing process, which doesn’t need the moulds typically required, can also make blades 20% cheaper than those made from composite materials.

The Voodin-Senvion tie-up will start by evaluating the feasibility of blades, followed by installation and testing of prototype components. The testing will take place in Europe at the end of 2026 and early 2027, said Senvion.

Siekmann told Recharge the final length of the blades has yet to be settled but will be in excess of 50 metres, which as far as the company is aware will be the longest ever made.
Voodin itself made headlines when it installed 19.3-metre blades in Germany last year.

Siekmann said the Indian partnership “allows us to bring our innovative wooden blade technology to a new scale and reinforces our mission to create a more sustainable and recyclable future for the wind energy industry”.

Senvion’s CEO Amit Kansal said Voodin’s blades offer “great potential in terms of sustainability and flexibility” for its 4.2MW machine, which was launched last year by the OEM as one of the largest models in the Indian market.

Blades are not the only turbine component that are subject to efforts to utilise wood. Modvion, which is backed by turbine giant Vestas, is using laminated wood as an alternative to steel and concrete in towers.
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Published 5 February 2025, 10:10Updated 5 February 2025, 11:06
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