The engineering company INNAS and technology company Hydrautrans are developing a mechanical-hydraulic transmission for offshore wind turbines with a capacity of more than 12MW.
The Floating Cup Technology used for the transmission is invented and patented by INNAS.
The hydraulic pumps and motors operate without internal metal-to-metal contact.
This translates into superior system efficiency without wear and results in an elongated service life of more than 25 years and an efficiency of more than 95%, the developers said.
Preliminary calculations show that, by implementing this hydraulic transmission in new wind turbine models of existing suppliers, the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) can be reduced significantly, according to the developers.
The low turbines price in combination with an elongated service life is said to result in a LCoE reduction up to EUR 6 per MWh.
The 12MW transmission consists of four independent modules of 3MW each. The components are lightweight which leads to a 10-25% head mass reduction, according to the developers. Wind turbines with a lower capacity, either 6MW or 9MW, can also use this new technology by placing less modules, and the technology allows upscaling to over 12MW in the future.
The expectation is that this technology will be released on the market by 2020.