MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
On course for growth
By Dr. Gerhard Reusmann, CEO, Dörken MKS-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG
I
n the global list of the world’s biggest markets for wind power India is already ranked fifth, behind only the USA, Germany, China and Spain. As it is one of the countries with the highest rates of economic growth in Asia, this trend is
going to get even stronger in the future, as the subcontinent’s energy demand is enormous. The development of wind power is supported by the Indian government, which stipulated in its latest five-year plan that the country’s energy generation should increase by a further 61GW by 2012. The government’s aim is for 14GW of this to come from forms of renewable energy. So far there have already been 13GW installed in the wind sector. In order to reach these targets, the share of wind power has, however, actually got to nearly double to as much as 20GW – in part because the other forms of regenerative energy are technically not sufficiently advanced yet. One particular feature of the wind power market in India is that 70% of the customers are industrial companies that produce energy for their own needs. In order to make their investment in wind power attractive, tax benefits for doing this will continue into the future. Furthermore, licensed operators of the power supply network are now legally obliged to cover at least 10% of their requirements from wind power.
Bolted rotor blade connection on a wind turbine
The Indian market for wind turbines is booming and is thus an attractive environment for German companies with relevant know-how. A manufacturer of special fasteners from Hagen has therefore set up a subsidiary in the vicinity of Pune, where it is producing fasteners and connectors for wind turbines and coating them using zinc flake systems.
Closer to the market Wind turbine construction in India is dominated by local
suppliers, who take as much as 70% of all business. Predominant amongst them is Suzlon Energy with a market share of nearly 43%. In order to be closer to this and other important clients in an expanding market, RS Randack Spezialschrauben GmbH of Hagen, Germany, set up Randack Fasteners India Private Ltd as a joint venture with Klaus Union Engg Private Ltd in May 2008. The latter already has a subsidiary based near Pune and provided an area of around 10,000 square metres for the new production site. In just six months a new facility for producing solid steel fasteners was built there with an adjoining laboratory area for putting the manufactured parts through quality control checks in line with German and international standards. The parts most used in wind turbine construction are
complete fittings made up of fasteners/hexagon head fasteners, washers and (hexagon head) nuts for fastening the rotor blades and/or tower elements. However, the company’s range also includes special fasteners for the nacelle and the gearbox housing. The parts are in the M6 to M64 size range and are up to three metres in length. For rotor blade connections the company provides stud bolt sets, consisting of a bolt with two threaded
106 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 75 May 2012
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