Harbon Wind Turbines is an independent UK wind turbine manufacturer based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The company supplies units with rated power of around 60kW to farmers and small businesses with relatively low energy requirements. The company approached Siemens Mechanical Drives to supply gear units and generators just over a year ago.
Chris Harbon said the Siemens reputation was a major factor in their selection. He commented, “As a familiar household name with a proven track record in wind turbine technology, we knew Siemens was a brand we could trust. It’s very important to us to reassure our customers that we use only the very best technology in our products, and it’s helping us win business in a tough economic climate, despite recent Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) changes.”
Since the initial enquiry, Harbon has built a 60kW trial turbine unit and a number of 55kW units using Siemens products at the heart of the drive system. The gear unit is a low noise Flender FZA 188B K4 with in line Siemens motor and shaft directly beneath.
One of Harbon’s most recent orders was for a unit installation on the Isle of Coll in the Hebrides (pictured).
Harbon continued, “Being able to obtain gearbox and motor from a single supplier is also very important to us. We like the whole package – support, technical knowledge, the fact that it’s a technically advanced unit – all these factors matter to us and help us develop our own business.”
