More than 100 employees, consultants, suppliers, customers and collaboration partners were gathered for the inauguration event. The ribbon was cut by (from left to right) Test rig project Manager (Hvejsel Advise), Christian Frier Hvejsel; Head of Technology Development Blades (Siemens Gamesa), Peter Fuglsang; Chairman of the Board (Blaest), Kim Sandgaard-Mørk; Chairman of the Board (Port of Aalborg), Bjarne Jensen.

With the belief in continued market growth Blaest decided to invest in the new blade test rig after entering an agreement with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to test their current range of offshore blades. The first blade is already being tested on the new test rig.

Peter Fuglsang, Siemens Gamesa’s Head of Technology Development Blades expresses: “Testing and validating new components such as our rotor blades is of great importance. The new test rig plays a key role in fully testing the new generation of our rotor blades. The model under testing belongs to the largest turbine type we have ever made. With only 90 of these offshore wind turbines, we could cover the annual electricity consumption of a city the size of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Accordingly, access to large test facilities is essential for our product validation. We are therefore pleased to further develop our collaboration with Blaest.”

Blaest’s Managing Director, Erik Steen Jensen follows: “Meeting the needs of the market and our customers is a key driver for our strategic focus. With this new test rig and all our other rigs, we are well prepared for the coming years of operation. We expect to see even longer blades within some years, and we are determined also to meet the testing needs for those blade sizes by further extending our capacity”.

The new test rig with a weight of more than 1000 tons has advanced design features to secure optimised operational efficiency through the test performing, while at the same time reducing critical handling and lifting operations.

The rig is partly financed through a bank loan with guarantee from The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO). No public grants have been received.

Source: Blaest