The National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) has recently signed a £14.8m contract with Shepherd Construction to deliver a 3,000m² building. A new 100m blade test facility will provide an independent and confidential environment to accelerate the development of new blade designs before they are taken offshore.
It will be the largest of its type in the world and it will expand Narec’s existing blade testing capability developed over the last five years, serving the global supply chain and industrial research community. It is part of a £100m investment in the site.
The new structure will be a 32-metre high steel framed building constructed with 1300 tons of steel, and it will be located in Blyth, Northumberland. To provide sufficient support for the nacelle drive train testing equipment, a 43-metre by 12-metre test bed foundation will be constructed and will be up to four meters deep with pile foundations.
The new facility is very significant for that area because it is going to become the world leading research and development center.
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Offshore Wind Staff , January 18, 2012 ; Image: narec