How2Day: Wind Turbine Blade Companies

Wind turbines convert wind into electricity. Wind Turbine image by Towards Ithaca from Fotolia.com
A wind turbine uses rotating blades to convert wind into electricity. Built in groups known as wind farms, modern wind turbines typically use three large blades ranging in length. Turbines are efficient, with one 3-megawatt turbine producing enough electricity to supply more than 1,000 homes with power for a year. Various companies produce the turbine blades, which can be up to 144 feet long.

Founded in 1898, Vestas Wind Systems began manufacturing wind turbines in 1979. As of 2010, Vestas has installed more than 41,000 wind turbines in 65 countries. In 2008, Vestas opened a 400,000-square-foot plant in Colorado to produce wind turbine blades. Vestas makes the blades from high-strength, lightweight carbon fiber. Each blade weighs 6 tons and measures from 130 feet to 144 feet long. Vestas builds for two turbine sizes: 3-megawatt and 1.8-megawatt turbines. Vestas merged with NEG Micon in 2003 and has since become the largest producer of wind turbines in the world, employing more than 23,000 people worldwide.

Solent Composite Systems started as Offshore Composite Structures in 1996 as a producer of molds and components for oil and gas companies. It started to design and manufacture wind turbine blades in 2000 and changed its name to Solent Composite Systems Limited in March 2004. The company, based on the Isle of Wight, has supplied turbine blades and blade molds to companies such as GE Wind Energy and NEG Micron, now a part of Vestas Wind Systems.

TPI (Tillotson-Pearson, Inc.) Composites was founded in 1968 in Scottsdale, Arizona. TPI's 316-square-foot plant in Newton, Iowa, opened in 2008 to produce wind turbine blades, namely GE Wind Energy's 1.5-megawatt turbines. TPI Composites patented its Seeman Composites Resin Infusion Molding Process (SCRIMP), which uses a high-powered vacuum to pull resin into a dry mold to produce a durable alternative to metal. TPI uses this system to produce wind turbine blades, boats and components for military vehicles.

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