PPG Industries has been selected to receive a USD 741,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the development of materials and automation processes for the manufacture of wind blades. …
PPG Industries has been selected to receive a USD 741,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the development of materials and automation processes for the manufacture of wind blades. PPG aims to optimize materials technologies and develop fiber glass prepreg placement techniques, in partnership with MAG Industrial Automation Systems, to improve wind blade reliability while reducing the cost of wind blade production. We recognize the need for improved blade manufacturing processes in the wind energy market, said PPG global market manager, wind energy, Cheryl Richards. The opportunity to combine advances in materials technology with the productivity of automated assembly techniques will drive positive change in the manufacturing and performance of blades. Daniel Allman, MAG“s composites business unit director, said, The opportunity presented by the DOE and our partnership with PPG both enable us to demonstrate technology capable of revolutionizing wind blade manufacturing. Our intent is to bring to wind blade manufacturing the same advantages of automation that we developed for aerospace composites. The grant from DOE is one of 28 new wind energy projects made possible by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the “20% Wind by 2030: Overcoming the Challenges“ programme. The work on this project will be mostly completed in 2010 at facilities in North Carolina and Kentucky. MAG is a global supplier of machine tool and manufacturing automation with two facilities and 3,100 employees worldwide, and sales in 2008 of USD 1.8 billion.