5.15 Blade monitoring start-up fibersail raises €5 million to develop its business to reduce the cost of wind energy

EIT InnoEnergy-supported wind turbine blade monitoring start-up, Fibersail, closed a €5 million investment round in April 2022, led by FORWARD.one, along with Rockstart, EIT InnoEnergy, and Caixa Capital among others. Former LM Wind Power CEO, Marc de Jong, is also stepping up as an investor and becomes a member of the Fibersail board. This investment round will allow Fibersail to focus on scaling the team and its customer pipeline.

Fibersail has developed a shapesensing system, based on fibre optic technology, to measure the deformation of blades during operations. Its simple process of installation enables the turbine to prevent excessive loads through the control system. Unidentified loads on blades lead to underperformance of 2-10 percent and increase risk of failure, elevating maintenance costs by as much as 10 percent.

By using its proprietary shape sensing technology, Fibersail is focused on the shape of the blade rather than root strain, enabling manufacturers and operators to design and operate better performing wind turbines. The Fibersail technology enables this by precisely controlling and monitoring the behaviour of its blades. fibersail.com

Fibersail has reached an important milestone by demonstrating the ability to monitor and control blade performance and fatigue cycles throughout the asset’s lifetime - and will accelerate its journey to disrupt how wind turbines are monitored and controlled today.

Together with our strong team of deep- and greentech investors, we are disrupting the way these wind turbines are controlled and maintained.