Broadwind Energy, Inc. recently announced the expansion of its Precision Repair and Engineering services with enhanced megawatt (MW) gearbox refurbishment capabilities. For MW-scale wind turbines in North America, gearbox repair and refurbishment have traditionally been performed outside the U.S. by non-domestic sources. Broadwind believes it will be the first independent supplier of wind energy products and services to offer enhanced MW gearbox repair and refurbishment capabilities in North America.

"With a large portion of the approximately 35,000 MW installed base of wind turbines in the U.S. now coming out of warranty, we see a growing need for a comprehensive solution for MW gearbox refurbishment services that Broadwind can provide," says Broadwind Energy CEO J. Cameron Drecoll. "By adding gearbox refurbishment up to 3 MW to our existing suite of kilowatt gearbox offerings, we will continue to grow our ‘one-source strategy' to help leverage existing customer relationships by adding additional services for our customers and cross-selling opportunities for Broadwind."

"Broadwind supplies technical services to those customers seeking complete operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions, including condition monitoring, up-tower diagnosis and installation and replacement capabilities," said Paul Seppanen, president of Broadwind's energy services business. "In addition, Broadwind will stock regionally deployed on-the-shelf replacements to immediately provide customers with refurbished gearboxes. We look forward to offering wind energy customers the most comprehensive suite of services for turnkey wind turbine gearbox refurbishing, testing and field replacement."

Broadwind anticipates that its enhanced wind turbine gearbox refurbishment capabilities will be fully operational in the second half of 2010, and will enable approximately 500 MW of annual wind turbine gearbox refurbishment, testing and field replacement. Site selection discussions for Broadwind's gearbox complex are underway and focused on the Abilene, Texas, area, which is in close proximity to the world's largest fleet of MW turbines. Abilene is also the home of Broadwind's state-of-the-art wind turbine structural tower manufacturing plant, which began production in February 2009.