ZF Wind Power Expands Capacities in India and Partners with ABS Wind for Enhanced Service in the US

(IN BRIEF) ZF Wind Power is boosting its capacity in Coimbatore, India, from 9 to 12 GW to meet the surging global demand in the wind market, supporting the transition of over 10 million households to green energy annually. Additionally, the company’s partnership with ABS Wind in the US ensures enhanced service provision for regional partners. Thrive, ZF Wind Power’s service concept, guarantees continuous availability worldwide, facilitated by local service centers and strategic partnerships. These expansions align with ZF’s commitment to empowering a sustainable future through local production for global quality, supported by smart logistics and advanced industrialization practices.

(PRESS RELEASE) LOMMEL, 6-May-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — ZF Wind Power is responding to current and future growth in the wind market by a capacity expansion in India and a service partnership in the United States.

The world’s capacity to generate renewable electricity is expanding faster than ever, giving it a real chance of achieving the goal of tripling global capacity by 2030, set at the COP28 climate change conference. The IEA report expects a major increase in the global renewable power capacity over the 2023-28 period. Solar PV and wind account for 95 percent of the expansion, with renewables becoming the largest source of global electricity generation by early 2025. Solar PV and onshore wind deployment through 2028 are expected to more than double in the United States, the European Union, India, and Brazil compared with the last five years.

While the wind energy supply chain faces massive challenges, ZF commits to taking important steps in empowering a sustainable future together with its partners.

12 GW capacity increase to capture the growth in the wind market

One of these steps is the expansion of the gearbox manufacturing capacity of ZF Wind Power’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Coimbatore from 9 GW to 12 GW. This expansion captures the growth in the international wind market.

ZF invests in both production and testing capacity. The installation of a 13 MW test rig will strengthen ZF’s position as a partner in development and validation. “The test rig will be in use at the beginning of 2025, and we’ll be able to test all system functions up to 13 MW under both static and dynamic loads. This makes it possible for our team to perform both serial and R&D testing,“ explains Deepak Pohekar, Plant Head of ZF Wind Power Coimbatore. The expansion project will be finished around mid-2025 and will support the plant’s current balanced and vertically integrated flow. With a capacity expansion up to a total of 12 GW, the plant can now produce components and gearboxes supporting the transition of over 10 million households to green energy annually. This extension also prepares the Indian location for future complete powertrain assembly.

Extra service capacity to meet the demand of regional partners

Thrive, ZF Wind Power’s all-inclusive service concept, strives for worldwide continuous availability. This worldwide service is possible thanks to strong and experienced local service centers and teams. ZF has workshops spread all around the world to guarantee short refurbishment times of up to 90 days. All of them are equipped with modern precision machines, high-class quality equipment, and highly skilled gearbox experts.

ZF Wind Power and ABS Wind, a global company specializing in multi-brand maintenance and repair solutions for wind turbines, formed a strategic partnership to maximize the service provision on the North American continent. This cooperation designates ABS Wind as the authorized and exclusive partner for the workshop repair of gearboxes and components for ZF Wind Power in the US. “This partnership represents a new milestone for our company, assisting us in our continued growth and demonstrating confidence in our suite of solutions for the sector, and for industry leaders such as Vestas and ZF Wind Power,” explains Alejandro Pardiñas, CEO of ABS Wind.

Thrive’s workshop services for the US market will be located at the ABS facility in Big Spring, Texas – a strategic location to guarantee optimal workshop services corresponding to the Thrive standards. “The combination of our global experience, ABS’ regional resources, and our commitment to sustainability guarantees high-quality Thrive services to enable continuous availability for our partners,” concludes Sivakumar Jayapal, CSO of ZF Wind Power.

Empowering a sustainable future together: local production for global quality

Local service centers and smart logistics convert the complex logistical service system into simple and worry-free transportation of gearboxes for Thrive partners all over the world.

The ‘local for global’ principle illustrated in Thrive and in the Indian production hub is integrated into ZF’s worldwide production and service strategy. With strategically located production and service plants in Germany, Belgium, India, China, North and South America, ZF can cover the world with wind power.

Thanks to smart industrialization*, ZF optimizes the local tact-driven production capacity and guarantees global quality and on-time delivery. “We strive for local production that’s as close as possible to our partner’s destination. Advanced and sustainable logistics maximize our global manufacturing footprint while minimizing the ecological footprint,” says Felix Henseler, CEO of ZF Wind Power. “This way we empower a sustainable future together with our partners.”

*With the use of advanced software tools, ZF ensures swift and effective integration of all production lines to guarantee maximum availability and flexibility in response to market demand for high-performance products.

Media Contacts:

Kris Adriaenssen
Head of Marketing
ZF Wind Power
+32 11 34 98 96
kris.adriaenssen@zf.com

Gernot Hein
Head of Communication & Public Affairs / Press Spokesperson, Industrial Technology Division
+49 851 494-2480
gernot.hein@zf.com

SOURCE: ZF Friedrichshafen AG