Blade solutions look upwards

Blade Solution has developed a patented repair methodology 

Greger Nilsson, CEO and owner of Blade Solutions, spends much of his working day hanging from a rope connected to a wind turbine, 100 meters above the ground.

Greger has an extensive knowledge of composite materials from his career in research and development. Before founding Blade Solutions, he worked as a researcher at what is now known as RISE in Piteå. Today, repairing wind turbine blades is the main focus.
Many wind turbines in Scandinavia have de-icing systems on the blades. One technique is to heat parts of the wing with a thin layer of carbon fibre. Blade Solutions specializes in the maintenance and repair of these systems.

Blade Solution has developed a patented repair methodology

Greger has developed and patented a repairing method for the heating mats. Also has a patent on how to manufacture damage-resistant heating mats, a technology that significantly reduces the cost of repairing damage. Another area of knowledge is turbine blade repairs in the Arctic climate and the specific technologies that entails. As soon as the wind turbine and the blades are mounted, there is no such thing as an optimal climate for composite repairs. Greger therefore, developed repair methods which work regardless of the season and the climate. The only limitation is icing on the turbine and blades. For safety reasons, it is not possible to work on the blades if there is ice on the wind turbine.
The four most common causes of damage to a wind turbine blade are factory defects, transport and assembly damage, damage from falling ice and lightning damage.

– Early on, I focused on composite and after many years at the research institute, I was eager to start something of my own, he states. At the same time, a lot of wind turbines where being built in northern Sweden and few companies worked with blade repairs. I saw a business opportunity in this and started the company.

– Fibre composites are often used because they are light, malleable, and strong, it does well to some extent as well, but mainly I use the electrical properties of carbon fibre, he says.

Member of SWE-CIC since the beginning

Blade Solutions was founded in 2013 and today has 3 employees, all industrial climbers. Greger and Blade Solutions have been members of SWE-CIC since the beginning.
– I work very operationally and are away from home for long stretches of time. You learn a lot by seeing the damages and problems IRL. However, contact and networking suffer. SWE-CIC facilitates this, you can easily obtain contacts and knowledge from other companies in the composite industry.