Close To The Wind

ContiTech Vibration Control banking on the growth market of wind power

Wind energy is becoming more and more important globally because it provides climate-friendly electricity. The turbine manufacturers’ brief is to build efficient, reliable, durable wind turbines. ContiTech supports them with systems that reduce vibrations and make the turbines more efficient.

In Germany some 18,000 wind turbines generated around 20,622 Megawatts of power in 2006, making it a leading international player in generating energy from wind power. The efficiency of these wind-powered systems depends on many factors, one of which is the service life of the turbine components, and rubber plays a key role in this. The flexible mount reduces the environmental noise pollution, on the one hand, while increasing component durability, on the other hand – with simplified construction and maintenance. ContiTech offers tailored solutions for wind turbines in the form of its SCHWINGMETALL® und MEGI® product series of rubber/metal connections.

ContiTech’s development engineers are also currently working on mount systems which respond actively to the forces acting on a wind turbine. These involve a so-called active absorber which generates opposed vibrations by means of electrical energy and specifically reduces troublesome vibrations – long since a proven technology in automotive engineering.

ContiTech Vibration Control has decades of experience in the manufacture of elastomer products for particular needs. Bespoke mount systems are developed for wind turbines in collaboration with the customers. ContiTech offers a one-stop shop for everything from the initial query through to series production. The customers benefit both from Vibration Control’s elastomer expertise and also from synergies within the ContiTech Group of Companies, e.g. in terms of testing technology or materials development throughout the process – i.e. from the technical specification stage via computer simulation and development to sample production, field trials and testing, and finally to series production. For instance, ContiTech has the capability to manufacture elastomers which are precisely tailored to the specific demands of the required components – and make wind power just a little more economical still.

The future market is on land, particularly in repowering, i.e. replacing old systems by modern, efficient turbines, and far off-shore where the wind blows more strongly and more constantly. According to estimates by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 10,000 Megawatts of offshore capacity will be installed in Europe before the end of this decade, and by 2020 it will be 70,000 Megawatts. So ContiTech will continue to play a role in the success story of wind energy in future too. .