{"id":18636,"date":"2026-06-30T12:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cener.com\/en\/?p=18636"},"modified":"2026-07-02T12:25:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:25:22","slug":"how-can-we-repair-blade-erosion-at-the-right-time-not-too-late-not-too-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cener.com\/en\/2026\/06\/30\/how-can-we-repair-blade-erosion-at-the-right-time-not-too-late-not-too-early\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW CAN WE REPAIR BLADE EROSION AT THE RIGHT TIME; NOT TOO LATE, NOT TOO EARLY?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Leading-edge erosion is one of the most frequent and expensive maintenance problems<\/strong> in wind O&M. Yet most inspection and repair plans are still generic, barely adapted to the specific site or turbine. With ATENEA, CENER gives operator a tool to predict erosion for each site and turbine<\/strong>, so owners can get the repair timing right<\/strong> from a limited number of inspections<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blade leading-edge erosion is not a minor issue, nor is it limited to specific locations: all wind farms, onshore and offshore, are exposed to rain and wind<\/strong>, the two agents continuously erode the leading edge throughout the asset\u2019s useful life. And the trend is moving in the wrong direction: rotors are getting bigger<\/strong>, with higher tip speeds that accelerate wear; projects are moving to more demanding sites<\/strong>, with greater meteorological exposure; and climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent<\/strong>. All three factors point in the same direction: more erosion, faster.<\/p>\n

Most of that cost is in maintenance: downtime, repeated repair campaigns over a 20-to-30-year life, and the cost of access, which multiplies in offshore. And the cost jumps once the surface erosion reaches the structural laminate, turning a simple coating repair into a much more expensive structural one.<\/p>\n

The industry doesn’t ignore erosion. The problem is how it’s managed<\/strong>. Even with drones now standard and severity scales in use, inspection and maintenance planning still relies on fixed intervals and broad assumptions<\/strong>, only loosely tied to the real site (its actual rain – wind climate), the turbine technology, or how each machine is operated. So, the timing is wrong in both directions<\/strong>. Inspect or repair too late<\/strong>, and the damage has already reached the load-carrying structure, where repairs are costly and downtime is long. Act too early<\/strong>, and you throw away months of blade life that was still fine<\/strong> and spend an access budget you didn’t need yet.<\/p>\n

The real gap isn’t the inspection itself, it’s that a one-off inspection is a snapshot, not a trajectory<\/strong>. It tells you a blade condition today, but not how fast the damage is progressing<\/strong> or when it will cross the structural threshold. And the timing problem gets harder because of how repairs actually happen<\/strong>. Access is weather-limited, so repairs are bundled into seasonal campaigns, with specialized teams and spare parts booked well in advance and, in offshore, with vessels and cranes too. That forces owners to commit to which turbines to repair before they really know each blade’s condition<\/strong>. Within a single farm, turbines don’t erode equally: their operation and exposure make some far worse than others. What the decision needs is a trajectory, and a way to know where to look<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To close this gap, CENER has developed ATENEA<\/strong>, a tool that predicts blade erosion for each design under its real operating conditions. ATENEA delivers value on two levels:<\/p>\n