Wind power “internal volume” is serious, the price of wind energy industry has dropped sharply under the rush loading tide, and cost control is an inevitable trend.

On August 11, 2022, Harting was invited to participate in the second Offshore wind Power Innovation and Development Conference. Based on its rich experience in the wind power field, Harting shared modular innovative design products with nearly 100 downstream enterprises in the offshore wind power industry chain, and jointly discussed the development path of reducing the cost of offshore wind power operation and maintenance and promoting the growth of the industry.

Photo: Deng Wenfeng, Director of Harting China Products and Applications, speaks at the Offshore Wind Power Conference

In recent years, offshore wind power “internal roll” is serious, and the price of wind energy industry has dropped significantly under the rush to install, forcing wind turbines to further cost control and energy efficiency optimization throughout the life cycle. Nowadays, the single capacity of wind turbines is getting larger and larger, the weight and size of wind turbine equipment are also increasing, reducing the time required for the production, transportation, installation and other links of the unit, and promoting the reduction of investment costs is the key for the offshore wind power industry to adapt to the era of parity.

Harting has a deep insight into the needs of the wind power industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and timely launches pluggable connectors with modular and innovative designs to minimize costs and maximize profits during the entire life of wind turbines. At the same time, further optimize the fan manufacturing process and reduce the assembly error rate, so as to improve the assembly efficiency of the fan, reduce the investment cost of wind power projects, and accelerate the technological change of the wind power industry.

Lower capital expenditure

The installation of industrial connectors in wind turbines is an important way to reduce costs, because the production and installation time of wind turbines can be reduced through optimized fan manufacturing processes and reduced installation errors, so that labor costs are reduced.

Connectors can be used in many locations within wind turbines, with typical requirements for corrosion protection and electromagnetic shielding. According to the different use environment and application requirements, Harting introduces three typical modular fan connectors. These modular connectors enable side-by-side transmission of power, signals and data, saving space and materials by optimizing the total number of interfaces, thus achieving cost savings. In general, connectors account for less than 0.3% of the total cost of wind turbines.

Left: Han®B base (16A,400V) with Han E® pin; Medium: Suitable for bases with high corrosion protection and EMC protection requirements; Right: Han-Eco® plastic housing connector with modular core

The modular design of the connector offers unique advantages during the fan production process and installation, such as plug and play for new components or replacement parts, coded connectors to avoid misplugging, rear mounting options to speed up the assembly of the switch cabinet, and more.

Left: Rear mount using Han-Eco® – from inside the cabinet; Right: Han-Modular® interface on the slip ring body

Reduce operating costs

The entire life cycle of a wind turbine requires regular maintenance. If a component suddenly shows failure, whether it is a large part like a blade or a small part like a sensor, the faulty part must be repaired or replaced quickly. The advantage of Harting modular connectors is that less time is required to replace electronic components, resulting in faster fault analysis. Through the connector, the wind turbine components can be quickly disconnected from the system and reconnected, so that the system can quickly resume operation and reduce the loss caused by downtime.

In a fan, there are often hard-to-reach areas that can quickly consume a lot of time if electrical maintenance, fault analysis, or component replacement is required. Harting connector solutions help improve the process of working in these areas, and even insert and unplug components sometimes without being seen. The time window for on-site maintenance in the offshore wind sector is generally shorter than for onshore wind. With connector technology, many tasks in offshore wind can be performed by semi-skilled workers, and the replacement of defective components can quickly restore the system to operation, so the advantages are even more obvious.

Figure: Maintenance of wind turbines

In short, in the production of wind turbines, the use of connectors can optimize many aspects of the manufacturing process, while reducing the occurrence of errors. With the plug-and-play design, users can quickly and easily integrate components into wind turbines, reducing the time workers spend in the field. With the help of connectors, components such as hubs, towers and nacelles can be connected and debugs faster than hardwiring when installing fans in the field. When replacing the components of the wind turbine, maintenance can be carried out without even the involvement of professionals, reducing downtime and valuable time spent waiting for experts, and significantly saving operating costs.