Hansen Transmissions Belgium

Hansen plans to increase its wind turbine gearbox manufacturing capabilities nearly four-fold, from 3,800MW per annum as at 31 March 2007, to 14,300MW, by 2012. In addition to its principal manufacturing facilities in Belgium - comprising a wind turbine and industrial gearbox plant at Edegem and a fully integrated state-of-the-art dedicated wind turbine gearbox manufacturing facility at Lommel - Hansen has a large new plant under construction in Coimbatore, India and in China. Hansen has strong research and development operations to maintain its technological leadership and employs more than 1800 people worldwide.

 

In addition to wind turbine gearboxes, Hansen Transmissions supplies drive solutions for a wide range of industrial applications in industries such as the chemicals, energy, material handling, environmental, extraction, pulp and paper, steel and metal, food and beverage, and construction, including such areas as bucket elevators, car crushers, cement kilns, conveyor systems, industrial mixers, paper mills, pulpers, and water treatment systems like aerator drives, screw pump drives and brush aerator drives for waste water treatment plants.

 

To respond to increased demand from our wind turbine customers as well as the forecast increase in global demand for wind energy generally, we are taking steps to increase our manufacturing capabilities from 3,800MW per annum (as at 31 March 2007) to 14,300MW per annum by 2012. This resulted in an expansion project at our Lommel facility to treble the current manufacturing capabilities, as well as in the construction of new plants in Coimbatore, India and in China. Our expertise in the design and manufacture of gearboxes has resulted in high quality products and efficient manufacturing processes. Our tailor-made wind turbine gearboxes have low noise and vibration levels and high torque density and power to weight ratios. We have strong in-house testing and quality control capabilities and devote significant resources to our research and development operations to maintain and enhance our technological leadership.

 

The gearbox is a critical component of gear-driven wind turbines. It converts the motion of the rotating blades to a higher speed which is required to drive an electric generator. The load and torque characteristics of wind applications are such that the design and manufacture of wind turbine gearboxes is very demanding and requires specialist expertise and highly specialised manufacturing capabilities. Hansen’s wind turbine gearboxes are designed by us in close collaboration with our customers for use around the world. Our wind turbine gearboxes have developed over time to meet customer demands for larger and more powerful wind turbines. Our first range of wind turbine gearboxes were of a standard type with an initial capacity of 30kW, increasing to 1.5MW by 1995, which today is at the smaller end of the scale in our wind turbine gearbox product range.

 

Increased trends towards larger and more powerful turbines in recent years have led to the development of larger wind turbine gearboxes with increased capacity and we are in the process of developing larger and more powerful gearboxes and integrated gearboxes with additional accessories. Hansen’s current wind turbine gearbox product is the Hansen W4 which is a tailormade gearbox for wind turbines in a power range that varies between 1.5MW and 4.5MW, and we are also currently developing gearboxes with a capacity of up to 6MW. Our extensive expertise in the design and manufacture of gearboxes has resulted in high quality products and efficient manufacturing processes. Our tailormade wind turbine gearboxes have low noise and vibration levels and high torque density and power to weight ratios.

 

Our industrial gearbox product range consists of a core standardised selection covering over a hundred different applications in a torque range from 6kNm to 800kNm which are suitable for both right angle and parallel shaft configurations in either horizontal or vertical arrangements. Throughout our history, four generations of standardised industrial gearboxes have been developed, the latest generation being the Hansen P4 which is a modular design that can be adapted to suit customer requirements through extensive applications engineering during the sales process. We have also expanded our traditional product portfolio for the industrial market through the development of a new series of industrial gearboxes, the Hansen M-Series, which is also based on a modular design, enables a configured-to-order approach, and delivers a competitively priced product at the lower end of the Hansen P4 torque range.

 

Our strong track record and existing customer relationships are beneficial for the generation of new business opportunities. We provide a strong technological track record and the ability to offer additional services such as commissioning of equipment, as well as strong product development skills and an understanding of the importance of research and development expenditure to develop cost competitive manufacturing processes for the production of high quality industrial gearboxes.

 

Finally, industrial gearbox customers are increasingly looking for gearbox manufacturers with a global service and sales network and proven distribution and support capabilities. We have strong in-house testing and quality control capabilities, and devote significant resources to our research and development operations to maintain and enhance our technological leadership. Our extensive expertise in the design and manufacture of gearboxes has resulted in high quality products and efficient manufacturing processes. This, coupled with our growing Services offering, supports our leading role in the gearbox industry.