Special case - BladeTrackers leading edge inspections.

  • Is your power curve suggesting leading edge erosion on your blades, but you don't want to shut down the entire windfarm and perform an all out inspection campaign?
  • Is your wind turbine blade at the end of its warranty period and you want an early assessment of the leading edge?
  • Do you have questions on the durability of a recent leading edge repair?
Leading edge BladeTracker
What you need is a quick and simple method to confirm whether the condition of the leading edge of your blades is causing the problem. No shut down, no lengthy reports, just the facts.
BladeTracker has developed a quick method just focusing on the leading edge. With just 6 to 8 images per blade, while your turbine remains in operation and without interfacing with the O&M department. You can assess the condition of your leading edge and end the discussion.
This service can be scheduled very quickly as there is no interface with the O&M department and no drone permits are required.



Mosaic 3x2 high res

This inspection is a good starting point to quantify your annual energy production loss (AEP) by using tools like SALT*. It helps to link the observed leading edge erosion to a performance loss of the turbine. The principle of the method is to assign different erosion patters to sections of a blade. The program will calculate an overall efficiency drop of the blade.

blade and SALT table

Leading edge erosion always starts at the tip of the blade as local speeds are the highest there. Then it gradually expands towards the root of the blade. Leading edge erosion will never run fully until the root of the blade as the speeds near the root are too low, but will often stop around midway of the blade.

Interested in this service or want to share some thoughts? Feel free to contact us!


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(*) Christian Bak, & Meyer Forsting, A. R. (2023). SALT - Simplified Aerodynamic Loss Tool (1.0.0 - beta). DTU Wind, Technical University of Denmark