Three Gorges Group Science And Technology Award Goes To Huaweike (HIT): Pioneering Breakthroughs in Wind Power Ice Monitoring With Flexible Electronic Skin

Recently, the China Three Gorges Corporation announced the award list for its 2025 Science and Technology Awards, recognizing sci-tech professionals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the group's technological advancement and high-quality development.

The project titled "Key Technologies and Complete Equipment for Ultra-thin Flexible Large-range Wireless Icing Monitoring of Wind Turbine Blades"-jointly undertaken by the China Three Gorges Wuhan Science and Innovation Park, Hubei Energy Group New Energy Development Co., Ltd., Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Huaweike (HIT) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., and Three Gorges Intelligent Control Technology Co., Ltd.-was proudly awarded the Second Prize.

Breaking Wind Power Icing Bottlenecks with Huaweike (HIT)'s Flexible Electronic Skin

Blade icing has long been a stubborn challenge in the wind power industry. Ice accumulation alters the aerodynamic shape of blades, leading to reduced power output or even unit shutdowns, and in severe cases, posing major safety hazards. Traditional inspection methods-such as manual patrols and indirect meteorological estimations-suffer from high latency, high false alarm rates, and an inability to directly assess the true state of ice layers. The industry has urgently needed a detection solution capable of directly sensing the physical characteristics of ice.

Huaweike (HIT) applied advanced flexible sensing technology to this scenario, developing a flexible icing monitoring sensor with a maximum thickness of no more than 2.5 mm. Powered by solar energy and internal batteries without the need for complex wiring, the sensor can be directly attached to the surface of wind turbine blades-acting like a layer of "smart skin." It accurately measures critical parameters such as ice thickness, temperature, and vibration, providing precise data support for turbine operation control and automated anti-icing/de-icing systems.

From laboratory testing to real-world deployment across wind farms, this technology has been rigorously validated, becoming a vital technical safeguard for the safe and efficient operation of national wind power generation systems.

From High-Altitude Blades to Arctic Ice Plains: Putting Reliability to the Ultimate Test

The application boundaries of Huaweike (HIT)'s flexible icing monitoring electronic skin extend far beyond wind energy.

In July 2026, organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the 16th Chinese Arctic Ocean Scientific Expedition team officially set sail. Huaweike (HIT)'s flexible icing monitoring electronic skin embarked aboard the Xuelong icebreaker for field validation and data collection in extreme environments. This milestone marks the first time Huaweike (HIT)'s flexible sensing technology has ventured into the Arctic Circle, representing a significant breakthrough for domestic intelligent sensing products on the frontlines of polar research.

Amidst sub-zero temperatures, months of alternating polar night and day, and turbulent ice-navigation conditions, the sensor withstood extreme cold, high ultraviolet radiation, and high-humidity salt spray. It successfully gathered first-hand data on sea-ice thickness and temperature field changes, providing invaluable empirical support for polar sea-ice evolution research and climate change model construction.

From serving domestic wind power infrastructure to safeguarding national polar scientific expeditions, the exact same flexible sensing technology has proven its exceptional strength and reliability across diverse, extreme environments.

Responding to National Needs: Exploring Frontier Technologies Through Independent Innovation

From serving everyday end-user scenarios to empowering heavy-duty national infrastructure such as wind turbine blades and polar ice plains, Huaweike (HIT) consistently aligns its R&D initiatives with national strategic demands, continuously iterating its products in real-world environments. This achievement reflects not only Huaweike (HIT)'s technical prowess, but also its corporate responsibility and commitment to serving national strategies and tackling technological frontiers.

Winning the Three Gorges Group Science and Technology Award is both an honor and an encouragement. Looking ahead, Huaweike (HIT) will continue to uphold its corporate mission-"Empowering Everything with Touch"-deepening its expertise in flexible sensing technology, expanding into broader application scenarios, and contributing further to national technological self-reliance and innovation.