How to boost wind turbine performance

The wind energy industry plays a central role in the production of renewable power sources across the globe. By 2030, Britain intends to generate a third of its power requirements from both onshore and offshore wind energy, making the continued growth of the sector crucial.  

Reducing downtime through the careful planning of maintenance and considered component selection is critical to the long-term success of wind farms. Sustainability also plays a key role in influencing operation and maintenance strategies, helping to keep wind energy as green as possible and continuing to reduce the impact of global warming on our planet.  

Component failure in this industry can cause weeks of expensive downtime, due to the often remote location of wind turbines, and the specialist maintenance engineers required to carry out repairs. For this reason, machine parts should be carefully chosen to deliver the best possible service life, along with the highest levels of performance.  

The SKF High Endurance slewing bearing has been specially developed to deliver outstanding performance in the harsh conditions of the wind energy industry, including extreme weather conditions and heavy loads.  

This bearing offers a significant increase in performance by improving pitch control. This has been achieved by redesigning the cage and raceways to reduce friction, leading to increased turbine and pitch control performance. This reduction in friction also delivers energy savings, helping to optimise the efficiency of the turbine.  

SKF High Endurance slewing bearings also offer higher turbine reliability, even in harsh environments. This is thanks to the optimised design of the bearing, which features a polyurethane seal. This offers an enhanced resistance to UV, ozone and salt water, helping to reduce wear and extend service life.  

This specialist seal design also protects against ring deformation during operation, reducing both grease leakage and the ingress of water into the bearing. This reduces maintenance costs, as relubrication intervals are extended.  

SKF High Endurance slewing bearings are available from ACORN and our product experts are on hand to guide you through the selection process, so that you can be sure that your wind turbine is receiving only the highest quality components.