EuCIA joined the EOLIAN team in Italy for the project’s M24 General Assembly.
Hosted by AEP Polymers at the Area Science Park in Trieste, the meeting on 26-27 May offered a valuable opportunity to reflect on the strong progress achieved over the past six months and to discuss the next steps towards EOLIAN’s ambitious goal of developing innovative vitrimer composites and advanced structural health monitoring technologies for wind turbine blades.
Encouraging progress is being made across all areas of this EU-funded project. This includes the development of bio-based vitrimers, the manufacture and testing of basalt fibre-reinforced vitrimer composites, and the integration of sensors and actuators into the composite material to support structural health monitoring and de-icing capabilities. Work is also underway to explore new end-of-life recycling and reuse pathways for these materials. Comprehensive sustainability analyses of the EOLIAN solutions are continuing.
Looking ahead, preparations are progressing well for the manufacture of the EOLIAN demonstrator – a vitrimer composite wind turbine blade. Construction of the blade mould is already in progress.
During the meeting EuCIA’s Communication Manager Amanda Jacob provided an update on the communication and dissemination work package, which EuCIA leads. Upcoming events include an EOLIAN LinkedIn Live session in partnership with Ilkay Özkisaoglu, creator of the Composites Lounge community. This takes place on 2 July and further information will be announced soon.
EOLIAN’s second review meeting is scheduled for December. This in person meeting with the Project Officer takes place in Brussels on 4 December and EOLIAN partners are invited to join EuCIA at the European Circular Composites Alliance (ECCA) General Assembly on the 3 December.
A new generation of blades
EOLIAN is developing a new generation of smart, sustainable wind turbine blades based on vitrimer composites. The project is also leveraging in-mould electronics technologies to enable structural health monitoring and de-icing functions. The EOLIAN innovations will offer improvements in blade lifespan, repair and recycling, helping to advance sustainability and circularity in the wind industry.
In EOLIAN, EuCIA joins nine partners: Proplast (project coordinator), AEP Polymers, Brunel Composites Centre (BCC), Entelea, IRES, Norvento Enerxía – Norvento TECHnPower, Politecnico di Milano, Tekniker, and Zorlu Energy Group.
For further information visit the EOLIAN website.
