JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #143 - November/December 2021 - 37

FEATURE
natural fibre
The Green Nacelle: pioneering natural-fibre
composites in wind energy
Summer 2021 provided a landmark moment for the development
and application of natural-fibre composites (NFC) in wind energy as
the 7.3m Green Nacelle was placed on top of its tower in Rotterdam,
and the 600kW wind turbine's 44m-diameter rotor was installed.
Greenboats can reduce the CO2
T
he pioneering new NFC nacelle
was commissioned by DOT (Delft
Offshore Turbine), a leading wind
turbine R&D innovator who are part
of the DOB-Academy based in Delft,
Netherlands. Manufactured by NFC
specialists Greenboats®, with composite
materials from Sicomin and Bcomp, and
engineering support from Judel/Vrolijk
& Co, the Green Nacelle is reported to
be the largest NFC structure built to
date (Figure 1).
Showcasing the opportunities with
natural-fibre composites
Greenboats has specialized in the engineering
and manufacturing of natural-fibre
composites for the last ten years, inspiring
companies to rethink their composite
solutions and move towards more sustainable
options. With the Green Nacelle, the
company and its customer DOT Power
have demonstrated that the state of the
art in renewable and bio-based composite
materials, coupled with efficient composite
processing techniques, can lower energy
consumption in manufacturing and
significantly improve the sustainability of
large-scale wind energy components.
Based on the extensive NFC processing
expertise developed in-house,
emissions
of a typical glass fibre-reinforced
composite (GFRP) part by 60-80% over
the product life cycle. In the case of the
Green Nacelle, energy consumption in
manufacturing has also been reduced by
over 50% compared to a nacelle made
with existing GFRP technology.
These important sustainability benefits
are all realised without compromising the
performance, quality, or durability of the
final composite structure.
Optimizing the composite material
mix and streamlining the process
The Green Nacelle measures around 7.3m
long, 3.6m wide and 3.1m high, with a
surface area of approximately 100m2
. It
was constructed in two parts, an upper
and a lower section, each with a steel frame
attached that allowed the two halves to
be bolted together (Figure 2). A lifeline
system was incorporated for safe access to
the roof and an emergency exit is included
at the back of the nacelle. A key innovation
of the Green Nacelle build process was the
panel-based assembly approach, with both
sections of the nacelle being created from
flat sandwich panels, saving the material
and energy necessary to produce large
mould tooling.
Sicomin, manufacturer of the market-leading
GreenPoxy® range of bio-based epoxy
resin systems, has worked with Greenboats
for many years, supplying materials and
on-site technical support via its German
distributor Time Out Composite oHG.
Sicomin supplied its DNV GLapproved
InfuGreen 810 resin system,
which was used to infuse Bcomp's ampliTex™
flax fibre reinforcement fabrics
and FSC-certified balsa wood cores of
the nacelle's main structural sandwich
panels (Figure 3).
The award-winning range of ampliTex™
technical flax fabrics includes different
Fig. 1: The largest nacelle made of natural-fibre composites
N°143 November - December 2021 / jec composites magazine
37
Feature Energy
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #143 - November/December 2021

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