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Nordex rolls out blade strategy with Carbon Rotec
BUSINESS TenCate expands UK facility
Nordex rolls out blade strategy with Carbon Rotec
TENCATE ADVANCED Composites, a producer of thermoplastic and thermoset prepregs, is expanding its manufacturing facility in Langley Mill, UK. The plant will become a centre of excellence for thermoset products and serve the European region.
The Nordex blade strategy covers its own lead factory in Rostock, Germany, and the international production network of its strategic suppliers TPI Composites, which is producing Nordex blades at its Turkish factory, and Carbon Rotec. Nordex is currently investing some €50 million in extending the capacity of this international production network as well as in modernising and expanding its own blade facility. The N117/2400 turbine, developed for low-wind sites, has a rotor diameter of 117 m. The blades are glass fibre reinforced polyester.
GERMAN WIND turbine manufacturer Nordex SE is extending its partnership with composite wind turbine blade producer Carbon Rotec. From 2015 Carbon Rotec will produce Nordex’s NR50 and NR65.5 rotor blades – the latter for the new N131/3000 (3 MW) turbine – in addition to the NR58.5 for the popular N117/2400 (2.4 MW) turbine. Carbon Rotec (previously SGL Rotec GmbH & Co KG) operates a 75,000 m2 factory in Lemwerder, near Bremen, Germany. It
currently produces some of the world’s largest blades, using glass fibre and a mixture of carbon and glass fibre, for onshore turbines with rotor diameters of more than 130 m. The blades are produced using the vacuum infusion process and epoxy resins. As an independent blade manufacturer Carbon Rotec builds blades according to customer design specifications (‘build to print’). The partnership with Carbon Rotec has enabled Nordex to build technically sophisticated rotor blades with carbon fibre structures.
The expansion of equipment and facilities is scheduled to be ready mid-2015. The “substantial investment” will bring additional capability and capacity for fabric and unidirectional (UD) based products, which are suited to applications in Formula 1 motorsport, automotive and industrial markets. TenCate says the upgrade also emphasises its commitment to markets space, satellites, radomes and select aerospace high temperature end-user applications.
Nordex says it is benefitting from the global trend towards larger wind turbines. Its Generation Gamma range, of which 2600 turbines have been produced to date, comprises 2.4 MW and 2.5 MW machines. Its Generation Delta range offers 3 MW and 3.3 MW turbines. Exports account for around 80% of the company’s business. In September, Nordex announced plans to grow sales to €2 billion by 2017 (2013: €1.4 billion) while substantially improving its operating result to an EBIT margin of 7-8%.
TenCate acquired the UK site when it bought Amber Composites in January 2013.
TenCate Advanced Composites; www.tencate.com
Nordex; www.nordex-online. com
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www.reinforcedplastics.com
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
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REINFORCEDplastics
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Nordex rolls out blade strategy with Carbon Rotec
TENCATE ADVANCED Composites, a producer of thermoplastic and thermoset prepregs, is expanding its manufacturing facility in Langley Mill, UK. The plant will become a centre of excellence for thermoset products and serve the European region.
The Nordex blade strategy covers its own lead factory in Rostock, Germany, and the international production network of its strategic suppliers TPI Composites, which is producing Nordex blades at its Turkish factory, and Carbon Rotec. Nordex is currently investing some €50 million in extending the capacity of this international production network as well as in modernising and expanding its own blade facility. The N117/2400 turbine, developed for low-wind sites, has a rotor diameter of 117 m. The blades are glass fibre reinforced polyester.
GERMAN WIND turbine manufacturer Nordex SE is extending its partnership with composite wind turbine blade producer Carbon Rotec. From 2015 Carbon Rotec will produce Nordex’s NR50 and NR65.5 rotor blades – the latter for the new N131/3000 (3 MW) turbine – in addition to the NR58.5 for the popular N117/2400 (2.4 MW) turbine. Carbon Rotec (previously SGL Rotec GmbH & Co KG) operates a 75,000 m2 factory in Lemwerder, near Bremen, Germany. It
currently produces some of the world’s largest blades, using glass fibre and a mixture of carbon and glass fibre, for onshore turbines with rotor diameters of more than 130 m. The blades are produced using the vacuum infusion process and epoxy resins. As an independent blade manufacturer Carbon Rotec builds blades according to customer design specifications (‘build to print’). The partnership with Carbon Rotec has enabled Nordex to build technically sophisticated rotor blades with carbon fibre structures.
The expansion of equipment and facilities is scheduled to be ready mid-2015. The “substantial investment” will bring additional capability and capacity for fabric and unidirectional (UD) based products, which are suited to applications in Formula 1 motorsport, automotive and industrial markets. TenCate says the upgrade also emphasises its commitment to markets space, satellites, radomes and select aerospace high temperature end-user applications.
Nordex says it is benefitting from the global trend towards larger wind turbines. Its Generation Gamma range, of which 2600 turbines have been produced to date, comprises 2.4 MW and 2.5 MW machines. Its Generation Delta range offers 3 MW and 3.3 MW turbines. Exports account for around 80% of the company’s business. In September, Nordex announced plans to grow sales to €2 billion by 2017 (2013: €1.4 billion) while substantially improving its operating result to an EBIT margin of 7-8%.
TenCate acquired the UK site when it bought Amber Composites in January 2013.
TenCate Advanced Composites; www.tencate.com
Nordex; www.nordex-online. com
r
www.reinforcedplastics.com
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
v
REINFORCEDplastics
9