Radia to build world’s largest aircraft for turbine transportation
Radia, an energy company with the goal of enabling giga-wind, is set to build the largest aircraft in the world to transport wind turbine blades up to 105m in length. Offshore wind turbines are significantly more powerful than those onshore, but the length of the blades poses a problem.
“So, imagine off-shore sized turbines deployed in on-shore locations. By doing that, you’re able to double the capacity of turbines, you’re able to reduce the cost of electricity by a third, you’re able to triple the acres in the world where wind is economically viable,” explained CEO Mark Lundstrom. “But the challenge for all that is you simply cannot distribute a turbine that’s as big as they are off-shore, on-shore.”
The WindRunner is designed to not only carry the blades from runway to runway, but the aircraft can land on semi-prepared runways, like short strips of dirt, to deliver payload right to the wind field.
The aircraft uses nose cone loading—the first time done by a commercial plane, as opposed to the military. Blades will be loaded into the plane on a set of train-like tracks.
“The interface of energy and aerospace is something which is rather unique,” said Lundstrom. “This is a unique opportunity for the aerospace community to contribute their skill set to climate change, to actually take big percentage points of CO2 out of the world by using aerospace.”
Radia are still a few years away from certification but hope for commercial services by the end of the decade.
