Drive for renewables

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UK engineering consultancy Romax Technology is working with one of China’s largest industrial machinery manufacturers to develop a new 5MW wind turbine gearbox.

Romax hopes the collaboration with DHI-DCW will help it expand further into the Chinese wind energy industry.

A contract and agreement between the two companies was signed by Jiajing Song, chairman of DHI-DCW, and Peter Poon, chief executive of Romax.

The agreement builds on the two companies’ recent partnership that resulted in the design and manufacture of the gearbox for China’s largest wind turbine, the 3MW Sinovel turbine, which has been installed in China’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Shanghai.

In that collaboration, Romax developed the design and provided technology training, prototyping, testing and certification. DHI-DCW helped test the prototype and gave advice on manufacturing.

With the 5MW wind turbine gearbox project, both parties will work more closely on the design and development phases.

‘The success of the 3MW gearbox is testament to the strength of the partnership between DHI-DCW and Romax,’ said Poon. ‘The new agreement and 5MW contract takes this as its foundation and looks ahead to a bright future for both companies - enabling DHI-DCW to secure its place as a key supplier to the flourishing global wind energy industry and strengthening Romax’s position as the leading consultancy for the design and analysis of drivetrain systems.’

Song said: ‘We are delighted to be signing the 5MW contract and collaborative agreement and are exceptionally pleased with the results of this successful relationship. With DHI-DCW as the number one producer of 1.5MW gearboxes in China and Romax as a world-leading drivetrain consultant with experience in gearbox design, our collaboration is expected to have a great impact on the development of the wind energy sector.’

The agreement between Romax and DHI-DCW also lays the foundation for other potential projects in the future.

It is anticipated that those collaborations will initially be focused on providing wind energy solutions into China. Since the Chinese government set targets for renewable energy in 2006, the wind energy market has experienced massive growth.