Swedish manufacturer BUMAX has won a significant order to supply wind farm fasteners for an offshore site on the Belgian coast.
With an order value of 1.7 million Swedish Krona (approx €158,000), BUMAX will supply stainless steel studs, nuts and washers for the 219 MW Northwester 2 offshore wind power plant for Danish steel contractor Bladt Industries, on behalf of wind farm owner and operator Parkwind.
BUMAX's high strength fasteners with excellent corrosion resistance were judged ideal suitable as wind farm fasteners for the extremely challenging North Sea conditions. Specifically, BUMAX SDX 109 was chosen for the project - a high strength super duplex fastener with excellent mechanical properties and exceptional resistance to general crevice, putting and stress corrosion in aggressive environments, according to the brand.
The delivery to Bladt Industries, a specialist in large-scale and highly complex steel structures, was completed in July and development of the Northwester 2 wind farm is ongoing, tabled for operation in the first half of 2020. BUMAX had to reduce its normal production schedule for these custom-made fasteners due to an extremely tight delivery deadline, reducing the usual timescale by several weeks to avoid potentially costly delays to the wind turbine project.
“This prestigious order is a testament to BUMAX’ ability to develop and market premium stainless steel fasteners of the highest quality, for the most complex constructions and aggressive conditions,” said Patrik Lundström Törnquist, Managing Director of BUMAX.
SDX 109 will be used to fasten turbine generator external platform to each of the 23 wind turbine foundations. The studs have to be maintenance free throughout the 27-year design life of the turbines - which is beyond the capability of conventional carbon steel bolts.
The studs require a high degree of corrosion resistance as they are situated within the ‘atmospheric zone’ where they will be affected by saltwater that might cause corrosion problems when salt particles dry on the studs. The studs also need a very high tensile strength to maintain the integrity of the wind turbine generator external platform throughout the turbine’s lifespan.
The BUMAX studs will realise cost savings for the customer through lower maintenance costs and less turbine downtime. The low maintenance requirements will also reduce the need for offshore wind turbine maintenance teams to conduct potentially dangerous stud replacement tasks.
Earlier this year, BUMAX won a contract to supply fasteners for CERN's Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator in Switzerland.
There's more on the new Northwester wind farm here.
