China’s Envision Energy has achieved a major engineering milestone by creating a two-blade wind turbine capable of delivering performance on par with traditional three-blade models.
After a consecutive operating time of 500 days, the turbine has proven itself to be highly reliable and efficient, a great leap for wind power technology. The innovation provides an economical means for sustainable power production, especially in remote areas where transportation of heavy, large turbine parts is not feasible.
The company confirmed that its next-generation two-blade onshore smart turbine maintained consistent performance throughout the testing period. “The turbine operated properly 99.3 percent of the time, running on average for 2,444 hours without interruption and producing electricity at full power for approximately 3,048 hours per year,” the company stated, underscoring that the streamlined two-blade configuration can match the output of conventional three-blade designs.
The innovation is built based on Envision’s Model X Onshore platform, which is a platform capable of handling different models of windmills. It is an adaptable platform that allows for further developments like the two-blade wind turbine and enables new designs to be incorporated.
The turbine itself is built with a modular design and incorporates high-speed, double-fed induction generator technology. Designed to be lightweight and highly efficient at the system level, it provides ease of transportation as well as affordability. Its design supports various renewable energy projects, improving access to wind power solutions.
“By overcoming technical challenges that have long existed in two-blade designs, such as excessive system vibration and load imbalance, we have proven that two-blade turbines can now be commercially reliable. This once again redefines wind energy innovation,” said Lu Yimin of Envision Energy.
Envision began exploring two-blade configurations in 2012 at its Global Innovation Center in Denmark, developing a 3.6 MW offshore prototype named ‘Game Changer’. Since the prototype’s completion in 2013, the company has built substantial expertise in two-blade technology, laying the groundwork for the current model of new-generation turbines.
It took months of intense testing against a multi-level, full-process validation system to bring this design from prototype to commercial application. Field testing at the Smart Wind Power Verification Centre lasted almost two years.
Through this development, Envision Energy has further asserted the capabilities of the two-blade wind turbine in reducing the cost of energy production, improving deployment convenience, and increasing access to renewable wind energy in remote areas. The innovation could become a significant development in markets where small, portable wind power options are critical due to difficulties in transporting heavy turbines.