RES, the world’s largest independent renewables company, has acquired Danish wind turbine blade engineering specialist, Bladena, further strengthening its suite of advanced digital solutions.
Established in Denmark in 2011, Bladena provides engineering expertise to minimise the risk of blade failures for wind farm owners through the entire lifetime of a wind turbine blade. These include proprietary technologies including D-String®, D-TE™, X-Stiffener™, and The RTZ Solution™ that can identify, assess and address blade issues and extend asset lifetimes.
Turbine blades account for approximately 27% of unplanned wind energy O&M costs, and with modern blades exceeding 60 metres in length and their numbers expected to triple over the next decade, addressing early lifecycle challenges is critical to extend turbine asset lifecycles and improve operational reliability.
The acquisition follows closely behind RES’ recent integration with Swiss drone inspection company, Sulzer Schmid, and further strengthens its digital solutions and services businesses.
Eduardo Medina, CEO RES, said: “As we continue to grow, we remain committed to bringing in technologies that provide value to our customers around the world. Acquiring Bladena is a significant step forward for RES as we scale and equip our business to meet growing market demand for digital services and blade maintenance. I look forward to welcoming our new colleagues as we continue our mission to deliver affordable zero carbon energy to communities around the world.”
Arun Narayanan, Digital Solutions CEO, RES added: “Through Bladena we will add industry leading blade technology and engineering expertise to our existing range of solutions such as AnemoLive, AeroUp and TuneUp, which have been shown to drive increased annual energy production. Our customers will now be able to better manage blades and improve turbine reliability, helping reduce costs, enhance revenue, and maximise the value of their investments.”
RES currently supports 41GW of operational assets globally, and over its 40+ year history has developed and/or constructed over 26GW of renewable assets – enough to power 25 million homes for a year. Through the recent acquisitions of Ingeteam and Sulzer Schmid, RES has an enhanced digital solutions and services offering that will serve current and future customers. The company has a development pipeline of 22GW across a range of renewable technologies, due to come to market within the next five years.
