German polymers company Covestro (Leverkusen; www.covestro.com) has received "DNV GL" industry standard certification for its newly developed PU resin system in China, effectively giving it a permit to enter the country’s wind energy market. The process technology has been developed for manufacturing wind turbine rotor blades from PU resin and a glass fibre fabric.

Covestro said the system makes blades that are lighter and longer through optimised design. In addition, faster curing processes and improved processing properties compared to epoxy resins, result in a significant increase in productivity.

According to Covestro, the limitation of existing materials and technologies has made it very challenging for wind manufacturers to improve production efficiency and produce lighter and longer blades. The company added that the application of PU in the wind energy industry opens up a new realm of possibilities for the resin.

China has the highest total installed capacity globally and its wind energy market represented around 43% of new installations worldwide in 2016.