Siemens Starts Operating Its First 6 Megawatt Wind Turbine Equipped with Bonfiglioli Yaw Drives
Lippo di Calderara, Italy - Bonfiglioli Group, a worldwide leader in renewable energy applications, has announced that it has designed and tailored a yaw drive solution for the new Siemens 6MW wind turbine. The company's yaw drives were specifically designed for this application and according to Siemens' specifications and necessities.
Siemens requested all components of this turbine size be the best quality and most accurately developed. Bonfiglioli can assure and deliver such a system thanks to its expertise in the wind market: the need for a sturdy and reliable solution but with a particular eye on the key characteristics of this nacelle (size, weight, serviceability) was the starting point for the engineering of this project.
Siemens Energy installed the first prototype of its next generation offshore wind turbine in Høvsøre, Denmark, and has today initiated the first trial operation. The new SWT-6.0-120 wind turbine with a power rating of 6 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 120 meters uses the innovative Siemens direct drive and proven rotor technology.
The new SWT-6.0-120 is the third direct drive wind turbine developed by Siemens. The company is in the process of thoroughly testing and validating the performance of the new wind turbine before the product will be officially launched for sale in the near future.
Bonfiglioli's expertise allows the Bologna-based group to proactively suggest new market solutions for the wind generation industry.
One recent example was launched at the Hannover International fair: a yaw control gearmotor for wind turbines from 1.5 to 3.5 MW in offshore and onshore installations. Using a multistage planetary gearmotor, it has been possible to deliver a compact solution with an advanced nacelle connection system both for onshore and offshore installation. More compact than existing solutions, this innovative system for nacelle orientation control comes equipped with integrated motor and brake, is inverter ready and grants a simpler maintenance over the product lifetime. This solution can assure a high level of serviceability (longer maintenance interval - 10 years; quick and easy access to all relevant parts) and an easier installation.
Over the last 30 years, Bonfiglioli has been supplying yaw and pitch drives in the wind market creating reliable and strong partnerships with main wind turbines manufacturers.
As proof, Bonfiglioli commands a 30% market share in this segment and over 50 GW installed wind power worldwide, onshore and offshore, run by Bonfiglioli drives.
The first project started during the 1980s and was for a few hundred kilowatts turbine. Since that first prototype, the technology of the wind mills evolved and the mean size increased. Now the 5 MW and 6 MW turbines are real and the first ideas for a 10 MW turbine have already appeared.
Obviously, according to the turbine size increases, bigger and bigger yaw and pitch drives started to be requested in order to drive even heavier nacelles and blades.
Bonfiglioli immediately understood this trend and has been among the first manufacturers of yaw and pitch drives for the multi megawatt turbines in 2006 when the first prototypes of a 5 MW turbine were produced.
Following the market and the technology, Bonfiglioli technicians already know what will be requested in a 10 MW turbine and the group designers are ready to use their vast knowledge for this challenging development.
About Bonfiglioli
Bonfiglioli -a leading company in the global power transmission market - designs, manufactures and distributes a complete range of gearmotors, drive systems and planetary gearboxes to satisfy the most demanding needs for industrial processes, automation, mobile, wind and solar energy applications. For wind energy, Bonfiglioli provides complete packages that seamlessly control energy generation: from rotor blade positioning with a pitch drive to nacelle orientation with a yaw drive manufactured specifically for the wind energy sector. One of out every three windmills in the world uses a Bonfiglioli Wind Energy gearbox, making the company a preferred worldwide supplier for almost 30 years. More information is available at BonfiglioliUSA.com.
USA Media Contact:
Jennifer Panepinto, Marketing Director
Tel. +1 859 538 1449
Jennifer.Panepinto@Bonfiglioli.com
