BP-, Shell-Backed ETI Opens Contest for Bigger Offshore Turbine Blades

The Energy Technologies Institute, whose backers include Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), BP Plc (BP/) and the U.K. government, started a contest to make bigger, more cost- effective offshore turbine blades.

The ETI, which is also formed of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), EDF Energy Plc, EON AG and Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR/), said today in a statement that it will ask developers to submit proposals for how they’d develop blades larger than 90 meters (295 feet) for the next generation of bigger wind turbines at sea.

Developers will be asked to design, build and test the blades for turbines with capacities of as much as 10 megawatts as the U.K. seeks to reduce costs of the technology it hopes will help meet a European Union target of deriving 15 percent of energy for power, heat and transport from renewables in 2020.

The blades will be almost as tall as London’s landmark Big Ben, according to the ETI, which will invest about 10 million pounds ($16 million) in the project. Blades currently used on offshore wind farms are 40 to 60 meters long. Clipper Windpower Ltd. is among the companies developing a 10-megawatt turbine. Clipper is building a prototype for deployment off Northumberland in the U.K. and is seeking funding under a European Union contest for the Blyth Britannia project.

The Clipper 10-megawatt machine will be 175 meters high and is expected to displace the use of two million barrels of oil over its lifetime, according to the company.

Cost-Effective Blades

“Groundbreaking innovation is needed today to help create a low-carbon future,” U.K. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said in the statement. “Improving turbine performance will increase output and drive down costs, making it more economical to generate ‘green energy.’” That size with the larger blade has been identified as the most cost-effective, the ETI said.

The contest aims for the first blades to be made and tested by the end of 2014, followed by production scale-up, the ETI said.

The U.K. government last year awarded offshore wind developers licenses to the seabed, paving the way for a further 32 gigawatts to be built in projects starting later this decade. It’s targeting 13 gigawatts of wind off Britain by 2020, according to its renewable energy action plan submitted to the EU last year.

The U.K. could host more than one-third of Europe’s total potential offshore wind resources, according to the ETI. “That is enough to power the country nearly three times over but it needs to be harnessed efficiently and affordably if we are to make the most of that natural resource,” David Clarke, chief executive officer of the ETI, said in the statement.

The Loughborough-based ETI will issue a request for proposals tomorrow and the deadline for developers to express intent to enter is June 17 followed by a July 27 closing date.

“Increasing the rollout of offshore renewable energy means improving the commercial case for investors by reducing costs and increasing energy yields,” Clarke said.

The ETI is a public-private partnership between the U.K. government and the six companies that seeks to develop technologies at mass-scale to aid in meeting Britain’s targets, according to the institute. It’s 50 percent funded by the private-sector members. Each commits 5 million pounds a year that’s matched by the government.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sally Bakewell in London at sbakewell1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net