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Focus on sustainable technologies

. Klaus Pils

NKE Austria GmbH is presenting its bearings for wind turbine gearboxes and generators at this year's Hannover Messe.

This shows that wind energy is an important area of application for the bearing manufacturer from Steyr, which already has over 20 years of experience in the OEM wind sector. More than 4,000 wind turbines in Europe, the USA and China have already been equipped with NKE bearings, which corresponds to a total output of around 10,000 megawatts.

NKE bearings can be found in all bearing applications of an Envision gearbox. Starting from the carrier on the rotor side to the high-speed shaft. Michael Rössl from the application engineering department at NKE in Steyr emphasises that the company also develops bearings with improved profile and contact pressure for high-speed shafts in cooperation with the customer's engineering team. Another example is the new NKE bearings with power density technology, which are only 20 per cent larger than conventional bearings but generate twice as much energy and can thus optimise the performance of wind turbines.

Matthias Ortner, managing director of NKE, states that NKE bearings are used in the most important components of wind turbines, such as in gearboxes and generators or as main bearings. The company has already received approvals from major wind turbine manufacturers or is still in the approval process. The strategic focus on sustainable technologies such as wind power and rail transport, which was initiated three years ago, is now bearing fruit. NKE is perceived as an innovative supplier of bearings for wind turbines.