Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult has announced it will open a tender in January 2018 seeking a company to set up a wind turbine bearing test facility at its Blyth site in the UK.
The contracted company will be in charge of the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the test facility, comprising a strong floor, bearing test rig, and associated hydraulic, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and control systems.
The facility will be used initially for research and product development of wind turbine main bearings and pitch bearings through exploration and testing of bearing characteristics under extreme load conditions.
According to ORE Catapult, the high-capacity hydraulic system will allow a wide variety of loading scenarios to be applied during the testing.
The construction will commence with a strong floor and will be phased as funding becomes available, the company said.