HLM -Chapter 1418 Wind Power

The winning bid naturally went to the Pink Flower Language Wedding Design Studio. After Wang Bo announced the result, it inevitably left other companies feeling regretful.

The five-million-dollar deposit was immediately transferred. Adrian said he would be stationed in Sunset Town permanently and would bring over his colleagues from Germany to begin preparing for the wedding.

Adrian needed to inspect the main wedding venue, Sunset Castle. Wang Bo said that inspection was fine, but preparations couldn’t start just yet. The castle was nearly complete; it could have been available earlier, but the renovation company felt some areas weren’t perfect and went back to make minor adjustments.

Some faculty members from Lincoln University had relocated to Sunset Town. With no students to teach at the moment, they had free time on their hands and weren’t just idly researching anything. As a result, a few physics experts discovered something useful for Sunset Town: the utilization of wind energy.

Sunset Town is located at the foothills of the Southern Alps. While the town itself is somewhat sheltered and doesn’t experience strong winds, the mountains above have powerful gusts. Every time Wang Bo climbed the mountain, the wind would blow his hair wildly. Now in winter, the cold winds were even fiercer, sending tree branches flying like surging waves.

Under these conditions, a research group formed consisting of professors in physics, aerodynamics, dynamics, and energy studies. They wrote Wang Bo a letter suggesting he develop wind energy.

Wang Bo wasn’t particularly hungry for energy. When Sunset Town was first built, its power grid had already been connected to the main network of Auckland via Highway 8, creating a mature electricity system. New Zealand has abundant energy, with plenty of electricity, and Sunset Town had never experienced a shortage.

Still, one can never have too much energy. After receiving the proposal, Wang Bo began to look into it.

New Zealand had been developing its wind energy resources. With the world promoting renewable energy, the wind energy industry had taken the lead as a clean, truly green energy source. Wind energy has many advantages: it’s abundant, nearly inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and helps mitigate the greenhouse effect.

However, like any industry, wind energy development also has its problems. The wind power sector constantly evolves technologically, producing larger and better upgrades. This means many old wind farms need to be retired and upgraded with new equipment.

Unfortunately, the largest component of wind turbines—the blades—is completely non-recyclable.

Turbine blades are made from fiberglass or carbon fiber composites. These materials are strong, lightweight, and have significant aerodynamic advantages, but they are nearly impossible to recycle. As a result, at the end of their life cycle, most of these blades end up in landfills.

Estimates suggested that by 2020, there would be 50,000 tons of blade waste, increasing to over 200,000 tons by 2034. The situation is serious. In New Zealand, only one industrial company recycled exhaust turbine blades. This company crushed the blades and then mixed them with other waste to create a compound.

However, the mixing process is chemical and requires significant manpower and resources. In other words, the company spends a lot of money processing turbine blades and wouldn’t do it without government subsidies.

But when Wang Bo looked at these discarded blades, he had an idea.

Wind turbine blades are enormous—sometimes tens of meters long—and extremely durable. Wang Bo thought they could be displayed as performance art pieces.

With this idea in mind, he called a meeting with his team to see if it could be put into action.

In the conference room, everyone was puzzled by his words.

“Honey,” asked one, “aren’t you planning to build wind turbines on the mountain? Why are you suddenly talking about performance art?”

Wang Bo replied, “Building wind turbines is only worth it with national investment. Otherwise, the cost is too high and the return too low. But this kind of performance art can achieve a win-win. I bet the government would be happy to have someone help deal with these discarded blades.”

Charlie frowned. “I remember seeing a project about this. A school in the Netherlands used the blades for waste reuse. They cut a few rotor blades and made children’s tunnels, towers, bridges, hills, ramps, and slides.”

“Yes, that’s the kind of design we need!” Wang Bo said.

Conley, after searching online for a while, said, “There’s a square in Norway called Willemsplein. The public seating there is made from these blades.”

He flipped his iPad for everyone to see. “Look, nine complete rotor blades are placed at different angles, creating ergonomic public seating with multiple seating options.”

Wang Bo said, “Excellent. We can set up similar seating in our square.”

Looking at the huge blades, Bowen said, “Our statues stand alone in the square. Don’t they seem a bit lonely? If we use wind turbine blades as a decorative backdrop, it could work nicely.”

There’s plenty of information online about turbine blades. Almere in the Netherlands built a durable bus shelter from decommissioned turbine blades.

Wang Bo didn’t understand why the New Zealand government hadn’t used these examples to manage the blades, but it didn’t matter. Sunset Town could make use of them.

Elizabeth contacted the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environment and learned that they wanted a batch of discarded turbine blades. The Ministry of Energy responded enthusiastically, promising to deliver them immediately.

The town didn’t have to pay; transportation costs were covered by the Energy Department. Twenty long blades were delivered to Sunset Town.

Wang Bo hired professional designers to handle the blades. They had many uses. For example, after welding guardrails on both sides, placing a blade under a treehouse could serve as a slide.

The main function, however, was placing them in the square as benches. With a canopy for shade, they could solve many seating issues for visitors.

Wind turbine blades aren’t just indestructible—they’re very smooth. Even if dust settles, it wipes clean easily, making them convenient for visitors.

As each blade was transformed into ergonomic seating, July arrived, and the castle was finally complete. After nearly two years, Wang Bo could finally move back in.

One weekend in July, Wang Bo, carrying his daughter and bringing the whole family, went to visit the newly completed castle.

On the way, Eva teased their daughter, “Daddy, daddy, daddy, say ‘daddy’…”

Wang Bo was driving with a smile when a clear, muddled voice sounded, “Mm, mm, papa…”