A press release from China indicates that a privately owned Chinese company, China Wind Systems, has made substantial investments in forging equipment to produce components for wind power systems for a developing wind power industry in that country.
The company announced that it has spent $4.18 million to purchase a 4,500-ton hydraulic press to produce shafts that weigh up to 18 tons. The shafts are to be used in wind turbine systems.
The company also has ordered a ring rolling mill capable of producing rolled rings measuring up to 6 meters in diameter and weighing up to 12 tons.
China Wind Systems says that it will utilize the axial closed-die rolling technology in its forging process. The new technology reportedly will reduce material waste during the forging process by approximately 35%, ensure high precision and surface flatness, and produce rolled rings with excellent mechanical strength and high flexibility.
Equipment suppliers were not identified in the press release.
Producing the shafts and rings is the objective of Phase One of a growth plan. In Phase Two, the company intends to manufacture bearings and gear boxes. In Phase Three of its plan, the company will manufacture other windmill components such as rotor blades.
The equipment will be installed at its new 107,639 square foot facility in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province and the company expects to start production at the new facility by September 2008.
''Demand for rolled rings is strong, particularly for larger rolled rings used in the wind power industry. With the addition of our new equipment, we will expand our production capabilities to produce precision rolled rings that measure approximately 6 meters in diameter and shafts that weigh approximately 18 tons,'' said Jianhua Wu, chairman and CEO of China Wind Systems.
''We expect the rolled rings segment of our business to increase significantly in 2008, growing from only 8% of revenue in 2007. Once the utilization rate for the equipment reaches 100 percent, we expect to see significant improvement in our overall profitability,'' Wu said in the news release.
China Wind Systems, through its affiliates, Huayang Dye Machine and Huayang Electrical Power Equipment, manufactures and sells industrial equipment for use in the textile and energy related industries in China. Since August 2007, the Company has shifted its strategy to focus on the growing wind energy industry in China, and has begun to supply high precision rolled rings to companies in the wind power energy industry.