The challenge

Why continuous internal wind turbine blade monitoring matters

The most high consequence, costly blade damage forms deep inside the structure, around the spar and shear web. It develops in weeks or months. Drone inspections are point-in-time — damage develops between visits, and by the time it is visible from the outside, the window for a low-cost repair has already closed. By then, a $30-50k repair has become a $500k replacement or worse.

ecoBLADE monitors internal blade behaviour continuously, detecting the abnormal structural changes and high-energy events that precede catastrophic failure. You see what is happening inside your blades at all times, while damage is still repairable.

See what's happening inside every blade

Drones only see

Surface cracks, scheduled inspections, after damage occurs

ecoBLADE detects

Internal failures, continuous monitoring, months early

Together: a full picture

Complete blade health visibility, predicting major damage before it happens

ROI

Turn $500k blade replacements into $50k with up-tower repairs

A single catastrophic blade failure costs $3 to $5 million, with site shutdowns losing over $100,000 a day and replacement blades taking up to a year to arrive. Catch the same damage early with ecoBLADE and the repair can often be done up-tower for $30,000 to $50,000, with downtime measured in days rather than months.

Early intervention:
$30-50K up-tower repair before catastrophic failure
Major structural damage:
$500K blade replacement
Catastrophic failure: 
$3-5M blade liberation, turbine collapse, extended outage

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Turbine labelled

How it works

Ecoblade how it works

From reactive to predictive blade management

ecoBLADE tracks real blade behaviour under operating conditions, recording the flex, twist, and abnormal rotor signals that indicate major structural damage. Because data is captured 24/7, catastrophic failure patterns are identified weeks or months before blade loss, giving your team time to source parts, schedule crews, and carry out the repair during planned downtime rather than mobilising an emergency response.

That same continuous visibility of the most expensive failure modes lets your drone programme focus where it adds most value, reducing inspection cadence without taking on hidden risk between surveys.

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Built on experience

Built on 10+ years of engineering projects

In 2025, we acquired ELEVEN-I, a team with a decade’s focus on making major blade failures preventable. Through funded R&D with GE Vernova, deployments across the North America, Europe and Asia, and a life-extension project with RWE and ORE Catapult. The approach has always been physics-based: understanding what blade behaviour means, not firing when a number crosses a threshold.

A decade of blade-specific R&D
Sensors and analytics have been developed since 2015, now delivering in-blade continuous monitoring.
Physics-based models, high-quality data
24/7 complete data feeding models that understand blade behaviour, not just thresholds firing on a number.
Field-validated across 5 major OEM platforms
Continuous monitoring deployed on turbines across North America, Europe and Asia.

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Montage blades onyx wind turbines

Features

Technical overview

If damage is visible from outside or audible through acoustic sensors, you are already managing failure. ecoBLADE detects the structural changes that predict it, months before blade loss.

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01 Two 3-axis accelerometer sensors per blade
02 Sub-Hz to 1000 Hz frequency capture
03 24/7 high-quality data collection
04 Automated detection of abnormal rotor behaviour
05 Real-time alerts for structural damage
06 Fleet-wide risk monitoring dashboards
07 4G-enabled cloud connectivity

The difference

How blade monitoring tech compares

Feature	ecoBLADE	Visual inspection (drone)	Acoustic sensors
Detection Type	Internal structural monitoring for catastrophic failure precursors	Surface damage only	Damage after cracking starts
Coverage	Full blade, continuous	Exterior surface, scheduled	Limited range
Frequency	24/7 data collection	Annual/bi-annual	Continuous listening
Prediction window	As soon as structural change is detected	After damage is visible	After cracks form
Weather dependent
Maintenance type	Condition-based, prevent catastrophic events	Scheduled visual checks	Reactive to acoustic signals
Data actionability	Damage/failure risk analysis	Surface crack documentation	Sound anomaly detection
Integration	Complements visual inspections	Complements internal monitoring	Passive monitoring only
Early warning	Months before other methods	After structural damage surfaces	Limited predictive capability

Detection Type

ecoBLADE Internal structural monitoring for catastrophic failure precursors

Visual inspection (drone) Surface damage only

Acoustic sensors Damage after cracking starts

Coverage

ecoBLADE Full blade, continuous

Visual inspection (drone) Exterior surface, scheduled

Acoustic sensors Limited range

Frequency

ecoBLADE 24/7 data collection

Visual inspection (drone) Annual/bi-annual

Acoustic sensors Continuous listening

Prediction window

ecoBLADE As soon as structural change is detected

Visual inspection (drone) After damage is visible

Acoustic sensors After cracks form

Weather dependent

ecoBLADE

Visual inspection (drone)

Acoustic sensors

Maintenance type

ecoBLADE Condition-based, prevent catastrophic events

Visual inspection (drone) Scheduled visual checks

Acoustic sensors Reactive to acoustic signals

Data actionability

ecoBLADE Damage/failure risk analysis

Visual inspection (drone) Surface crack documentation

Acoustic sensors Sound anomaly detection

Integration

ecoBLADE Complements visual inspections

Visual inspection (drone) Complements internal monitoring

Acoustic sensors Passive monitoring only

Early warning

ecoBLADE Months before other methods

Visual inspection (drone) After structural damage surfaces

Acoustic sensors Limited predictive capability

Frequently asked questions

Have a question? Find an answer

How does ecoBLADE differ from drone inspections?

Drones inspect blade surfaces during planned, typically annual, campaigns, capturing visible damage after it’s already developed. ecoBLADE monitors internal structural behaviour 24/7, catching damage weeks or months before it escalates into something potentially catastrophic. The two are complementary: ecoBLADE catches internal structural damage early, drones document surface conditions.

How does ecoBLADE work?

Two 3-axis MEMS accelerometers are bonded inside each blade. A data-acquisition unit in the hub collects the signals and streams them to ONYX over 4G. Our analytics run in the cloud, producing KPIs, alerts and trend views for your engineering team.

What does “24/7 continuous data capture” actually mean?

The sensors record structural data from true 0 Hz to 62.5 Hz as standard, configurable higher, non-stop. High-energy events that only last minutes — a storm, a VIV episode, a damage-causing event showing up as ~1000× normal vibration at a specific frequency — land in your dataset instead of happening between inspections. Our engineering team reviews the data during working hours and alerts you when something needs attention.

Can ecoBLADE help me reduce drone inspections?

Yes — it changes the risk equation. Drones remain the right tool for surface damage and leading-edge erosion, so ecoBLADE doesn’t replace them. What it does do is cover the internal failure modes drones can’t see, catching damage between campaigns and before it escalates into the kind of catastrophic failure that costs millions. With that continuous data in place, customers can reduce drone-inspection cadence and focus campaigns where they’ll find the most.

What types of blade damage can ecoBLADE detect?

ecoBLADE is purpose-built for the fast-developing, costly internal failures that drones miss — structural cracks around 20–30% of span, leading-edge cracks, bond-line failures, delamination, and damage-causing events like vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and stall-induced vibration (SIV). It also supports blade repair validation by comparing behaviour before and after a repair.

Webinar

Hear it straight from the blade experts

Live Webinar: 14 May 9am MST / 4pm GMT

As turbines grow in size and complexity, the cost of getting blade management wrong is rising fast. Join Bill and John as they deep dive into what’s driving that risk, and what a smarter, more proactive approach looks like in practice.

Growth of the financial impact of blade events as turbines increase in scale
Matching blade failures with monitoring methods
How earlier insight materially changes the replace v repair decision
What a more proactive blade strategy means for availability, insurance, and long-term durability

Reserve your spot

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Get in touch

Blade intelligence that saves millions

One blade failure can turn a profitable site into a loss-making one. Take it off the table.

Complete our enquiry form, and we’ll respond within two working days.

Bill Slatter
Director of Blade Products
ONYX Insight

Dr. John Coultate
VP, Advanced Sensing
ONYX Insight

Dr Phil Shackleton
Principal Engineer Blade Sensing
ONYX Insight

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Catch blade damage before it costs you millions

Why continuous internal wind turbine blade monitoring matters

See what's happening inside every blade

Turn $500k blade replacements into $50k with up-tower repairs

From reactive to predictive blade management

Built on 10+ years of engineering projects

Technical overview

How blade monitoring tech compares

Have a question? Find an answer

Hear it straight from the blade experts

Blade intelligence that saves millions

Contact form