WEG’s direct drive gearless wind turbine solution promotes higher energy efficiency
The development of a direct drive, gearless wind turbine by Zest WEG is seen as key to the company’s plans to grow its client base among wind farm developers in South Africa and the rest of Africa.
The company notes that its 4.2 MW wind turbine solution is an addition to its initial offering of a 2.1 MW unit and forms part of its expanded technology offering to the wind energy market.
Zest WEG highlights the positive uptake of its wind turbine, mainly in South America, as reflected by the 647 MW of capacity that it has contributed to the market in recent years, with another 181 MW in the pipeline.
The company outlines a number of benefits of a turbine designed without a gearbox, including:
- Increased efficiency
- Less noise and weight
- Less maintenance
- Improved efficiency and reliability
The design of the turbine includes the transformer in the nacelle, rather than at the tower base. The transformer steps up the 925 V generated by the alternator to 33 kV, reducing losses through more efficient energy transmission. There is also then no need for a separate transformer and its associated infrastructure at ground level.