Brevini Gears up for Renewable Energy Industries (UK)

As fossil fuel prices continue to increase and the world becomes more aware of its environmental responsibilities, the UK is one of the nations leading the call for alternative energy sources to be utilised.

This has led to British engineering growth in the Renewables market that just a decade ago seemed implausible. As the technology expands it is important to have expert mechanical support to maintain efficiency; Brevini UK has been working in the energy sector for many years and has a number of products and services that will help to keep things running efficiently.

Brevini has over a decade’s experience in the wind power industry where its lightweight, and compact slew drive gear systems are used to deliver high reduction ratios and torque ratings. In the UK and across the rest of the world it has been responsible for the installation of more than 70,000 pitch and yaw drives, each of which has been geared to provide continuous and reliable service for the life of the turbine.

The pitch system is responsible for controlling the angle at which the blades face the wind; it is vital these systems work reliably in order for the turbines to generate the optimum levels of energy. Brevini’s planetary slew gear units provide an optimal solution for pitch drives for wind turbines up to the largest sizes considered today. The boxes reliability is extremely important in this application, especially as the pitch of the blades prevents the turbine from getting damaged in high winds.

The yaw system on a turbine ensures that the nacelle is always positioned accordingly to allow the rotor axis to be aligned with the wind direction for maximum energy output. Nacelle rotation is controlled by a planetary gear unit with and electric brake motor. Each turbine can have between two and eight gear units depending on its size. Brevini slewing drives are again the perfect solution for yaw drives, the tough drives will reliably last for many years in this application.

With the rapid growth in the wind turbine market there has been an increase in demand for gearbox servicing, especially for main drive gearboxes which are known to suffer in-service performance issues. Able to service  gearboxes up to 15 tonnes, Brevini’s Scunthorpe based Maintenance and Repair operation draws on the company’s OE technical expertise and buying power to deliver fast repair work and competitive rates. Trained service engineers perform pre-strip-down inspections to identify work components; replacement parts are then sourced from the OEM returning drives to their original specification.

Dave Brown, Brevini UK Sales Manager, comments: “We have been supplying manufacturers of wind turbines with drive systems since the early days of wind power generation, this gives us a level of expertise and experience that allows us to provide bespoke services in both the OE and MRO sectors of the industry. Our success in developing solutions for the wind industry has also meant that companies exploring other renewable energy sources are approaching us to create engineered units for their technologies.”

Wave and Tidal power is another area where the UK is taking a lead; a number of companies are developing new devices which Brevini have supplied innovative drive solutions for. The compact size of Brevini’s planetary gear units, plus their proven reliability in marine environments, has established the company as a market leader in this sector.

Expert applications engineering and support from Brevini UK is assisting engineers with the specification of units on new revolutionary machine designs. Using its experience in the Marine and Offshore market, Brevini has  gearboxes are DNV type approved and can provide additional certification where required.

Mr Brown continues: “The renewable energy sector is experiencing an exciting period of growth at the moment as other traditional forms of energy are becoming increasingly unstable. I am very proud to work for a company that has seen the importance of this emerging market and is in a position to help it grow into a viable alternative for fossil fuels.”

(dmaeuropa)

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Source: dmaeuropa, June 01, 2011; Image: