August 3, 2011
Maine

Experimental edges added to turbine blades for noise reduction

knox.villagesoup.com 2 August 2011

Customers of Fox Islands Wind are watching a German crew modify the blades that turn the turbines that produce electrical energy for the islands.

According to Fox Islands Wind’s Chief Operating Officer George Baker, turbine manufacturer General Electric is installing a low-noise trailing edge noise reduction system on the blades.

“It’s not new blades,” said Baker. “They’re applying these serrations to the trailing edge of the blades. They look like sharks teeth. We’re going to have the meanest looking turbines on the East Coast.”

Baker said the Vinalhaven installation is only the third application of the LNTE system, worldwide. One of those sites is in the field and the other in a laboratory, he said.

“They’re supposed to change the way the wind flows over the blade and reduce the noise by between 2 and 4 decibels,” he said. Baker said the installation would take about a month.

“If you look out a window you’d see that one turbine is down.” He said the first turbine was now equipped with the new edges and that the other two would be turned off, one at a time, while their blades were transformed.

“We’re very excited and hopeful about it,” said Baker. He said Fox Islands Wind has been working with GE for more than a year to plan the change.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/03/experimental-edges-added-to-turbine-blades-for-noise-reduction/