WindEnergy Hamburg: Unique Industry Forum to Introduce Innovative Technology to the Global Market

With numerous world premieres and huge exhibits on display, the world’s leading expo for wind energy will be the focus of attention for the international markets from 27 to 30 September 2016. The majority of innovations and product extensions serve the common goal of reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE). The following paragraphs will highlight some of the numerous innovative technologies showcased in as many as nine exhibition halls at the Hamburg fair site.

While 2016 is far from over, this year is characterised by several essential, ground-breaking innovations in the global wind industry, including various product developments setting new size and other records. In the offshore sector, the giant 8MW AdwenAD8-180 prototype with a 180-metre rotor diameter will become operational before the end of this year. German mechanical drivetrain supplier Winergy will show a world market novelty in Hamburg, a full-scale, medium-speed gearbox specifically developed for this turbine model. The company will highlight several new technologies and design features incorporated into this two-stage planetary gearbox with a record 9.9MNm input torque.

Blade development specialist Windnovation will present several industry novelties at WindEnergy Hamburg, including a new series of 2MW-class ‘Windblades’, said Managing Director Roland Stoer: “These blades are optimised for low wind speed areas and range between 56m and 60m in length. Furthermore, a new 83-metre blade offering an optimised solution for 5MW offshore turbines in low-wind markets is now ready for licensing. ”Windnovation also teamed up with Freqcon to develop a modular energy generation, storage and distribution system called re²plant. The core of the system, designed to operate without an external grid, is a multi-source converter (MSC). It contains a DC-bus for the energy management of multiple generating sources like wind, water or solar, as well as loads such as small-sized water desalination plants.

Enercon has completed the installation of a second E-126 EP4 prototype in northern Germany, and a third E-141 EP4 prototype will follow this year. The company will inform visitors about the outcome of its prototype tests and ongoing industrialisation efforts for ramping-up serial manufacturing in 2017. This includes a new, larger wrapping machine for the inner part of the E-126 and E-141 EP4 segmented blades, and modifications to the in-house foundry for the split generators and other main components.

The evolution of turbine towers is characterised by new records being set in rapid sequence. Exhibitor Max Bögl holds the current height record with a concrete-steel hybrid tower featuring a 164-metre hub height, a novelty in the market. At WindEnergy Hamburg the company will inform visitors about new opportunities for exploiting wind sites previously considered unfit for wind power generation.

For the first time at WindEnergy Hamburg 2016, Siemens will showcase innovations designed to address the challenges of the energy transition.These include onshore turbines and a new modular customised service concept, and the 8MW upgrade of the SWT-7.0-154 turbine for offshore installations is also new.

Gamesa will highlight innovative details of the latest G126-2.5MW low-wind model and the G132-3.3MW for IEC IIA, the first model of a new 3MW product platform. The company will also report about experiences gained with the Gamesa offgrid system, which combines power generating and storage. This concept reflects the wind industry’s growing interest in energy storage, both for developed markets and emerging markets lacking a centralised electricity network.

The largest single exhibitor booth at WindEnergy Hamburg 2016 will be that of Envision. The Chinese supplier will inform visitors about a wide variety of technologies, including the ongoing development of the 3.6MW, two-bladed concept turbine to be fitted with an innovative high-temperature superconductor generator.

Aerodyn Engineering chose Hamburg to introduce several innovative developments and will display a 1:36 scale model of the 8MW SCD nezzy 8.0MW floating wind turbine concept at WindEnergy Hamburg. According to Managing Director Sönke Siegfriedsen, the concept has been tested successfully in a water tank at Cork, Ireland. He added: “We simulated wave heights up to 30m in this water tank, and the nezzy passed this test without problems.” The company also has a contract with a Japanese partner to supply a two-bladed 3MW SCD 3.0 with a 100m rotor for installation on a floating foundation designed by Ideol. Installation is planned for autumn 2017. Aerodyn will inform visitors about these developments and other plans, including a much larger, 1:4 scale nezzy test model to be installed and tested at the west coast of Ireland. In a next step, the company plans to put a 3MW SCD 3.0 atop a nezzy floating foundation.

WindEnergy Hamburg was selected by IMO as a perfect stage to showcase its latest T-Solid 4IPC bearing solution. A model can be seen at the expo. The newly-developed product was designed for super-sized rotors installed on the latest 3-4MW low-wind onshore turbines as well as the 6-8MW offshore class which increasingly incorporate either conventional or load-based individual pitch control (IPC) systems. IPC technology aims to achieve substantial load reductions, but increasing blade lengths and pitch adjustment frequencies are hard on blade bearings. Managing Director Werner Schröppel explained: “The T-Solid 4IPC pitch bearing design matches the extended operating life demands for large, low-wind and offshore turbines incorporating IPC.”

Leine Linde Systems likewise introduces various innovative wind industry products, including Pitchmo, a specially developed, position-sensor based system for ‘play-free’ determination of optimal rotor blade pitch angle positioning. A second innovative product is Yawmo, a system designed to ensure precise yaw-system positioning while offering built-in protection against cable twisting.

Exclusively in Hamburg, the Schaeffler Group showcases its latest product innovations and service offerings. The exhibitor will explain the performance characteristics, overall efficiency and reliability of various FAG bearing solutions and how they undergo continuous optimisation while having to address the challenges of reducing component sizes and the required design space. Schaeffler will also present a software-based system for calculating the nominal remaining life of rolling bearings based on real load spectra. According Schaeffler, it allows wind farm operators to predict the remaining life of each individual bearing in everyturbine at any time, enabling them to consolidate and schedule maintenance work.

Innovations and new developments from the fields of wind energy and wind technology will also be featured in numerous lectures and presentations during the conference programme of the WindEurope Summit held at the CCH – Congress Center Hamburg – in parallel with WindEnergy Hamburg for the first time. For further information on the conference please visit https://windeurope.org/summit2016/conference/programme/

From 27 to 30 September 2016 at the Hamburg Messe Fair Site