Gamesa and M.Torres will develop a technology project for the design and automated manufacturing of wind turbine blades, Gamesa
Release Date: 2009-02-26
The new blade concept will enable wind farm profitability and adaptation to the environment to be improved
Mass production will commence at the end of 2011
Bilbao, February 26, 2009. Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica and M.Torres Diseños Industriales will share a research and development project focusing on a new concept for wind turbine blade design, as well as on an automated blade manufacturing process. The project foresees investments totaling €100 million and reaffirms Gamesa’s leadership in technology.
The new production process will provide significant improvements to blade manufacturing cycle times, along with consequent manufacturing unit cost reductions. In addition to reducing environmental noise emissions, the new blade will make an important contribution to the process of improving the profitability of wind energy projects equipped with Gamesa wind turbine generators due to its competitiveness, quality and levels of service.
The first prototype units of this new automated process will be available in the first quarter of 2010 and the first mass produced blades will be assembled onto the mainstream segment of Gamesa wind turbines from 2010.
M. Torres Diseños Industriales will take part in the project as the process’ capital goods manufacturer and will apply its own technology –used in the aeronautics sector where it is a world leader in lamination technology for composite materials– to the production of wind turbine blades.
As José Antonio Malumbres, Gamesa's Managing Director of Technology, stated "This production technology will provide GAMESA with an important long-lasting competitive edge... In addition to the manufacturing process, Gamesa will make significant aerodynamic and acoustic improvements to this new family of blades that were implemented in its technology development programs over the last three years”.
Luis Izco, M.Torres’s Capital Goods Director stated “With this alliance, as well as obtaining the direct profit as a manufacturer of wind generators, M. Torres will also enter the business of wind power equipment suppliers industry. Specifically M. Torres considers that this development will benefit its future competitiveness in the offshore wind farm business”.
About Gamesa
Gamesa is a company specializing in sustainable energy technologies, mainly wind power. It is the leading company in Spain and situated among the world’s three most important wind turbine generator manufacturers.
Gamesa has installed more than 16,000 MW of its main product lines in 20 countries spread out over four continents. The annual equivalent of this production amounts to more than 3.45 million tons of petroleum (TPE) per year and prevents the emission into the atmosphere of over 24 million tons of CO2 a year.
The company has around 30 production centers located in Spain, China and the United States with an international workforce of around 7,200 employees.
About M. Torres
M. Torres maintains business lines in the aeronautics, paper converting and wind energy sectors.
It develops capital goods for automated manufacturing processes in the paper and aeronautical industries, particularly those used in the manufacture of composite materials used in aeronautical components, where the firm has made large investments in R&D. In the wind energy sector, M. Torres manufactures multipolar synchronous wind turbine generators with its own technology.
M. Torres has centers in Spain, Germany and the USA and a workforce of over 500.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Gamesa |
| Country: | Spain |