24 June 2008 – Hexcel is exhibiting at this week’s Wind Power Asia show in Beijing to promote the products that make the company the leading worldwide supplier of composite materials for wind energy.
China is experiencing major growth in its wind energy market and the country plans to increase the amount of energy obtained from wind power from 5GW in 2008 to a total installed capacity of 30GW by 2020; a strategy that will require a major increase in the number of wind power plants in the country.
To meet this growing demand Hexcel will officially open a new prepreg facility in Tianjin in October 2008 to meet the growing requirement for composite materials used in wind energy.
The new Hexcel plant is being built in conjunction with Tianjin Xeda Administrative Committee (Xeda), who helped Hexcel to secure a site with a total floor area of 30 000m2, close to the facilities of major wind power customers in Tianjin. The plant building will occupy an area of approximately 8,000m2 and manufacture HexPly® epoxy resin prepregs, primarily for wind energy and industrial applications.
Prepreg is a fibre-reinforced resin system that cures under heat and pressure to provide structures that are exceptionally strong and stiff and yet lower weight than traditional materials. Hexcel was the first company to supply prepregs for composite wind blades in the early 1990’s.
The demand for composites has evolved exponentially with the size of the wind blades and the growth of the market. Hexcel has remained at the forefront of the supply of composites to the industry, in the form of carbon- and glass-fibre reinforcements, prepregs (resin impregnated fibre-reinforcements) and a range of complementary materials and technologies including surface finishing materials, peel ply and paste adhesives.
This year Hexcel has launched its new prepreg for wind energy, HexPly® M19. HexPly® M19 is a major step forward in prepregs for wind energy as it cures in 15-20% less time than current prepregs used for the same application. The cycle time savings mean less energy is required to cure the prepreg and more blades can be produced in a week.
The shorter cure cycle means that savings in mould costs are achievable as less expensive tooling resins and tooling coatings can be used along with a cheaper tooling support system.
HexPly® M19 has the same excellent mechanical and handling properties as the established HexPly® M9 prepreg range. It is suitable for the manufacture of shells, spars and the root end of turbine blades and is available with glass and carbon fiber reinforcement.
Hexcel has a strong presence in China where the sales office has been operating in Shanghai for over 10 years.
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Hexcel Corporation is a leading advanced composites company. It develops, manufactures and markets lightweight, high-performance structural materials, including carbon fibers, reinforcements, prepregs, honeycomb, matrix systems, adhesives and composite structures, used in commercial aerospace, space and defense and industrial applications.
Contact: Rachel Woolerton – UK
Tel: +44 1223 838370
Rachel.Woolerton@hexcel.com
Contact: Lily Wang - CHINA
Tel: +86 21 6483 6741/2
Lily.Wang@hexcel.com.cn