The Aim of Wärtsilä Is to Reduce the Export Costs of Wind Turbine Gearboxes to Specialized Centers Located in Europe.
The Wärtsilä group announced last Thursday (30) the inauguration of a fully specialized service center for gearbox repairs, aimed at wind power turbines, being the first service center entirely dedicated to this specific purpose in all of Latin America. The center is located in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco, in the Northeast region of the country.
First Service Center in Latin America Specializing in Gearbox Repairs for Wind Turbines, from the Wärtsilä Group, in Northeast Brazil
The service center stands out as the test bench is composed of two 1.5MW AC motors, along with a gearbox, which is used to simulate torque in operation.
After setting up these configurations, it becomes feasible to test the repaired equipment, either with full operational load or partial, depending on the power of each model. Conducting this test is essential to help identify potential failures in advance, with the aim of correcting them even before the assembly of the gearbox inside the wind turbine.
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According to Jorge Alcaide, Energy Business Director at Wärtsilä, by offering the possibility of gearbox repair and testing in Brazil, it is contributing to a direct reduction in energy costs, helping to increase the operational availability of wind farms, and also helping to maximize the use of wind energy within the Brazilian energy matrix.
Advantages of Establishing the Wärtsilä Service Center in the Northeast
Due to being fully aligned with the purpose of boosting the energy transition, for Wärtsilä, another advantage of establishing such a service center in Brazilian territory is being able to contribute to the creation of new revenue streams for asset owners.
According to Alcaide, instead of sending gearboxes to European countries, which is the main hub for manufacturing these units worldwide, Wärtsilä’s clients will now have the option to perform any repairs right here in Brazil, with the assurance that the service will be performed with the same competence and quality offered in Europe, while also benefiting themselves, as they will achieve more savings and spend less time with all the processes that such an operation typically requires.
Partnerships Established by Wärtsilä
Brazil currently has the 7th largest installed capacity of wind energy in the world ranking, with more than 20 GW generated and distributed among over 10,000 wind power turbines.
The estimate is that Brazil will reach the mark of 25 GW by the year 2025. Considering this possibility, in mid-2018, Wärtsilä signed a partnership contract with one of the largest and main gearbox manufacturers in the world, to specifically meet the demands of the Brazilian market, while also opening up the possibility of serving the European market.
Choosing the Northeast region for this type of operation is a strategic planning choice for many companies that decide to work with renewable energy sources – such as solar energy and, in this case, wind energy – precisely because it is the location where the vast majority of wind turbines are installed and operate fully, due to the strong incidence of winds characteristic of that region of Brazil.
The Brazilian wind energy market currently represents about 11.4% of the total energy produced in the country, equivalent to 21.1 GW, with 16.4 GW produced coming from the Northeast region.


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