News from Husum…
The biannual event HUSUMwind took place from 20 to 24 September. With over 500 exhibitors from 26 countries this show has a prominent position on the events calendar for our industry. Many companies launch their new products and announce their latest news at the show. If you want to stay up to date you need to go to Husum.
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{access view=!registered}Only logged in users can view the full text of the article.{/access}{access view=registered}This year a lot of interest came from Asia. Many visitors came from that region but also some companies from Asia were exhibiting for the first time in Husum. For instance, Nabtesco from Japan showed their products at the show. As a manufacturer of motion control systems and components they are active in many industries such as hydraulic, precision and aircraft equipment. For the wind power industry they have now developed RGS (Reduction Gear for Slewing) and RGP (Reduction Gear for Pitch drive). The construction is based on a RV gear, which comprises two stacked gears. Each gear is in contact with the outer ring for approximately 180 degrees so that the entire structure is in contact through 360 degrees. This results in compactness and a low backlash. The company’s gears have already been used by Japanese turbine manufacturers and it is their intention to become a world player in this field.
Two years ago at the show the future of Nordex was very uncertain and the company has gone through a crisis. Revenues fell from € 440 million in 2002 to € 200 million in 2003. Customers were holding back orders because of the uncertainty. Suppliers requested payments in advance. This all resulted in a very weak financial position. But it seems that the company has overcome this crisis. Since 2003 they have implemented many measures to reduce costs and at the end of 2004 they found two equity investors who were willing to take over a majority of the stocks, which gave the company more financial room to break the downward trend. Since recapitalisation, new business has recovered. In the second quarter of 2005 order receipts grew by € 123 million to € 158 million. Up to August the company had an order intake of € 245 million and they expect an order receipt around € 290 million for the whole year. However, Nordex’s suppliers seem to be a bottleneck. They all work at full capacity but the delivery time is between 6 and 9 months for some parts. Nordex intend to solve this problem by selecting more (international) suppliers and in 2006 the capacity issue should be solved.
In our November 2004 issue we published the article ‘Wind Speed at Light Speed’ about the ZephIR developed by QinetiQ. By harnessing laser technology the ZephIR (a lidar system) measures the Doppler shift of laser radiation scattered by atmospheric aerosols in order to provide the user with wind speed and direction at multiple heights up to 150 metres. It also quantifies wind behaviour in terms of both turbulence and wind shear. The article was based on a prototype. At the booth of their German distributor, Deutsche WindGuard, QinetiQ presented for the first time the commercial version of the system. Already ten systems are sold.
In our November/December issue we will publish a review with more news from the show but I recommend you to visit the show yourself in 2007.
Floris Siteur
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