Nordex SE has extended its partnership with its supplier Carbon Rotec by some years and widened it to cover more products than in the past. As of 2015 Nordex will also be having its NR50 and NR65.5 rotor blades produced by Carbon Rotec – the latter for the new N131/3000 turbine. Hitherto this partnership was limited to the NR58.5 for the top-selling N117/2400. “This will enable us to react flexibly to any increases in demand with a tried and tested supplier,” says a pleased Bernd Treiber, Head of the Nordex SE Blade Centre.
The Nordex blade strategy covers its own lead factory in Rostock and the international production network of its strategic suppliers, TPI and Carbon Rotec. The lead factory, where Nordex manufactures its latest rotors, is particularly important as this is where the design, material, tools and quality processes are defined. When it comes to quality and reliable delivery the manufacturer sets particularly high standards for choosing its partners. Nordex is currently investing some EUR 50 million in extending the capacity of the international production network as well as in modernising and expanding its own blade production facility in order to meet the increasing demand for highly complex products.
“The quality of the rotor blades we use is crucial for the yield of our customers’ wind farms. This is why we are continuing the successful partnership with Carbon Rotec. This association has enabled us to build technically sophisticated rotor blades with carbon-fibre structures," says Bernd Treiber. He also underlines the highly dependable delivery guaranteed by Carbon Rotec in recent years.
William Tang, Managing Director of Carbon Rotec GmbH & Co. KG: “We are delighted to be able to further intensify the existing partnership with Nordex and see this as confirmation of our performance to date, especially regard to delivery deadlines and product quality.”
As a technological leader among suppliers of megawatt turbines, Nordex benefits particularly from the global trend towards large wind turbines. The Generation Gamma product range comprises the N90/2500, N100/2500 and the N117/2400, which is one of the most efficient inland series turbines. To date more than 2,600 turbines from this platform have been produced. With Generation Delta Nordex is now offering the fourth turbine generation of the proven multi-megawatt platform (N100/3300, N117/3000, N131/3000). Overall, Nordex has installed a more than 6,000 turbines with a capacity in excess of 10,000 MW around the world. With exports accounting for around 80 percent of its business, Nordex SE also has a strong position in international high-growth regions. The company has offices and subsidiaries in 22 countries around the world. The Group currently employs a workforce in excess of 2,700 worldwide.
Carbon Rotec is a technological and quality leader in the manufacture of rotor blades made of fibre-reinforced plastics. Carbon Rotec has been building rotor blades based on fibre composites since the 1980s. At the moment some of the world’s largest onshore rotor blades are being manufactured using glass-fibre and a mixture of carbon/glass-fibre for turbines with rotor diameters of more than 130 metres. As an independent rotor blade manufacturer Carbon Rotec builds its rotors according to customer design specifications (build-to-print), with the blade being designed for an optimal production process in close collaboration with the customer ahead of actual rotor blade production. Carbon Rotec is located in Lemwerder near Bremen, Lower Saxony, where on grounds covering 1.4 million square metres and more than 75,000 square metres of factory space products made of fibre composites are produced for the wind energy sector. The services offered range from product development and the delivery of components down to the finished product and subsequent maintenance.