The project titled “Research on Advanced De-icing Techniques and Prevention of Snow Accumulation on Wind Turbine Blades,” ICINGBLADE, was born within a consortium formed by the University of Castilla-La Mancha and INGETEAM SERVICE . It aims to investigate advanced de-icing techniques and snow accumulation prevention on wind turbine blades, as well as the development of new integrated systems to address one of the major challenges faced by wind farms located in areas with adverse weather conditions: ice and snow. This undoubtedly provides a significant advantage over the current working methods in the wind energy sector. It will lead to greater profitability for wind farms by preventing the uncontrolled shutdown of wind turbines located in low-temperature areas.

To avoid this phenomenon and achieve this important technological challenge, the research project will develop:

• Innovative condition monitoring systems capable of detecting ice and snow accumulation on wind turbine blades.
• Anti-icing coatings applied to wind turbine blades to prevent the accumulation of ice and snow on them.

The project has a budget of half a million euros and is supported by the INNPACTO 2012 call for proposals, funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with FEDER funds.
Ingeteam is leading the project.