Joule Challenge project launch uses composites for next-generation wind turbine development

A flagship £5 million, 20-month program called the Joule Challenge, funded by the U.K.’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), expects to set out a detailed roadmap for incorporating new composite-based components in the next generation of offshore wind turbines.

A key element of the project is the engagement with the U.K. composite and offshore wind sectors to gather market intelligence and explore the potential for how these components can be manufactured and delivered, with the emphasis on increasing U.K. supply chain content. Phase 1 of the Joule Challenge, completed in 2020, reportedly proved the importance of composite materials in offshore wind, predicting component mass reduction of up to 60% and a reduction of embedded carbon up to 55%.

Joule Challenge Phase 2 will continue to prove that composite materials can deliver significant performance and lightweighting opportunities that will be essential to addressing the technical challenge of developing the next-generation wind turbine platform beyond 20 megawatts (MW). The project has already produced a Technology Development Plan for a 20-MW demonstration turbine, incorporating a program framework, identification of critical technology gaps, potential partners and stakeholders and a detailed technology development path. It will be delivered by two Catapult centers: The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult (Glasgow, U.K.) and the National Composites Centre (NCC, Bristol), part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. 

The Joule Challenge Project is expected to capitalize on the U.K.’s expertise in the design and manufacture of large composite components, while also supporting the Offshore Wind Sector Deal’s ambitions to drive down the cost of energy through lower cost manufacturing, increasing U.K. content and developing export opportunities of between £60-80 million per year by 2030.

“We predict that a 20-MW prototype, incorporating increased levels of U.K. content and using lightweight composite materials, such as those that have been developed for advanced aerospace structures could be built by 2025,” says Tom Wildsmith, business development manager with ORE Catapult. “These next-generation turbines will be vital in providing the offshore wind capacity needed to meet the U.K.’s net-zero targets and there is a huge economic opportunity to be grasped too, through building a U.K. manufacturing capability.”