For several years now, the LTi Group (headquartered in Lahnau, Germany) has recognized renewable energies as a growth market. The company has been involved in the industry for 10 years and generated sales revenue of EUR 80 million in the market segment for pitch systems in the year 2008. "Rotor blade controls for wind turbines face difficult environmental conditions – severe temperature fluctuations, wind, and moisture," says Dr. Wolfgang Lust, CEO of LTi REEnergy. "Just imagine a failure in an offshore wind turbine. Service would be extremely expensive, so our solutions must be very robust and reliable. The starting point here is the highest possible quality."
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High reliability – that’s why in 2008 Weidmüller got a jump on its competitors in this area with one of its PCB terminals. It now delivers a large number of the terminals to LTi REEnergy at its Unna location for the PITCHmaster II servo controller. "The main drivers were the excellent ability of Weidmüller’s PCB terminals to be integrated into our system along with the product’s good construction and its functional configuration," says Lust.
Weidmüller also builds on its attention to comprehensive solutions and customer applications with other products in the area of renewable energy. These products include easy-to-maintain, pluggable connecting components, analogue signal converters with a high level of temperature resistance, and switches and couplers that withstand vibration. All the products cover the requirements noted by Lust, requirements that arise from the environmental conditions of wind turbines. Surge protectors, lightning conductors, switched-mode power units, housings designed for specific projects, or FieldPower® technology for decentralized energy distribution meet the requirements that arise in all wind turbines.
Booming Industry
Wind energy is finally booming despite current economic conditions, and the trend is moving upward, says Lust. "For 2009, we expect strong growth – especially in the United States, Canada, China, and India. And starting in 2011, Europe will increasingly embrace offshore wind parks." That means new opportunities for LTi: thanks to its high quality and availability, the company is a market leader for electric rotor blade controls for wind turbines. With more than 7,500 installations, LTi REEnergy provides these controllers to more than a quarter of all wind turbines in use worldwide. "We collaborate closely with our customers to develop innovative solutions," says Lust, explaining the company’s success.
Innovation in wind turbines means less weight, greater efficiency, and ideal design. For example, each customer’s and project’s wind turbine differs in size, geometry, and power output. "Those factors determine which components we use and how they are arranged in the housing. We must tailor the components and their arrangement quickly and flexibly for each customer," says Wolfgang Lust. Whether they’re working on motion controllers, motors, switching cabinets, or backup systems, the engineers, project managers, and product managers at LTi REEnergy know the precise requirements of their customers and can therefore plan a comprehensive solution.
Further Expansion of Position within Renewable Energy Sector
That’s another connection with Weidmüller, whose engineers and product managers also develop innovative system components. For example, Weidmüller has integrated an LED-based lamp with the standard distribution box of the proven FieldPower system. The lamp’s characteristics make it ideal for interior tower illumination of any windmill-powered plant. The product lasts ten times longer than traditional fluorescents and the LED lamp also needs less electricity. In addition, it can be easily installed in the FieldPower system with cutting and clamping technology. Wherever it is used: a small circuit board supplies it with the correct voltage. LTi REEnergy and Weidmüller are currently holding intensive discussions on this customer-specific development.
And that’s only one opportunity for each company to improve its position in renewable energy. Both companies can look back on years of good experience with each other when collaborating on many smaller projects. For example, Weidmüller provided LTi with traditional components for switching cabinets for open-loop control systems – terminal blocks, clamp straps, and the related tools.
Know-how and shared experience may be valuable for new business areas at LTi. In 2009, Lust wants to increase sales in renewable energy to EUR 130 million. "To reach our goal, we are specifically targeting new, technically demanding, and seminal market segments," says Lust, explaining the strategy of the company and its products. Conversion of residual heat into electricity with biomass systems is another example of this proceeding.
Making economical use of residual heat with relatively low temperatures places the highest level of technological demands on the efficiency of turbines. But LTi REEnergy has that know-how since the days of its inception. "We have also worked with our partners to develop special silicon oil for an efficient hot water circuit," outlines Lust. Until now, devices in this specific performance class for lower temperatures were only available – if at all – as make-to-order products. Here, too, LTi REEnergy has taken a decisive step forward. "In the past year, we have delivered the first prototypes and will now go into mass production. The first one to capture this upcoming market will secure a huge business area," says Lust.
LTi REEnergy also set up extra capacity last year for photovoltaics – for central inverters designed for systems of 30 kW to 1 MW. "These kinds of inverters are also needed for wind turbines or for conversion of residual heat into electricity," says Lust as he describes the synergy. "No matter what segment we deal with, we consider what we can automate and electrify and then approach our customers worldwide as a system supplier," says Wolfgang Lust.
This application story has been published in: annual report 2008
