Flender recently welcomed Stefan Rouenhoff, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, to its site in Voerde. The visit focused on the strength of the German wind-energy industry and the importance of industrial collaborative research (IGF) for the German economy. Flender CEO Andreas Evertz gave State Secretary Rouenhoff a tour of the gearbox assembly area and presented the new REVO drive concept.
The new REVO drive concept is the first gearbox concept to reach the threshold of 300 Newton-meters per kilogram (Nm/kg) of torque density — a quantum leap for the industry. For the same output, the outer diameter of the gearbox can be reduced by up to 25 percent. The result: more compact, lighter nacelles, lower material, transport, and installation costs, as well as the development of new sites that were previously logistically inaccessible.
“With REVO, we are demonstrating that groundbreaking innovations for the energy transition are emerging here in Germany,” said Andreas Evertz, CEO of the Flender Group. “One in three wind turbines worldwide runs on Winergy drive technology. At our site in Voerde, around 1,300 people are working to make wind energy increasingly efficient and cost-effective. The industry creates thousands of highly skilled jobs and is a growth engine for Germany as an industrial location.”
“This is a great success for the employees at the Voerde site in the Lower Rhine region, in particular, but also the industrial collaborative research program of the Federal Ministry of Economics, which have made an important contribution to this,” Rouenhoff said.
Industrial Collaborative Research (IGF), the Federal Ministry of Economics’ central funding program for pre-competitive research, is also regarded by Flender as a key instrument for research funding; 100 percent of the public funding goes directly to research at universities and research institutions.
“The Voerde site is an excellent example of how successful joint industrial research can be,” Evertz said.
“Technologies developed in collaboration with universities as part of IGF projects are now incorporated into REVO — our most powerful drive concept. This program is a unique tool for small- and medium-sized industrial companies.”
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