Richardson Electronics, a global provider of engineered solutions for renewable energy and other power management applications, announced the expansion of its customer base through a supply agreement with TransAlta Corporation for its patented pitch energy modules designed for GE wind turbines and SSB platforms. TransAlta Corporation is one of Canada’s largest publicly traded power generators, owning and operating a diverse fleet across Canada, the United States and Western Australia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Richardson Electronics will provide its patented ULTRA3000 and ULTRAPEM modules to numerous wind farms throughout Canada and the United States. Richardson expects shipments to occur throughout calendar year 2025.
These ultracapacitor-based modules are designed to replace lead-acid batteries in various OEM wind turbine platforms that utilize electric pitch systems. Pitch Energy Modules (PEMs) store and manage the energy required to adjust blade angles, ensuring the effective operation of the wind turbine.
Greg Peloquin, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Power & Microwave Technologies and Green Energy Solutions groups, stated, “As we continue to be the world leader in pitch energy modules and continue to develop new modules for various wind -turbine platforms such as our ULTRAPEM products, we are excited with progress of our new products such as pitch energy modules for Senvion, Suzlon, GE’s SSB platform and Nordex. Our relationship with TransAlta started a few years ago and our teams have worked together to identify and provide products that help TransAlta to be successful in providing the latest and greatest technology.”
Daniel Layton, Supervisor Soderglen & Lakeswind LTSA of TransAlta Corporation shared more about his experience working with the Richardson Electronics team and their patented technology solutions: “If you were to ask any wind technician who works on electric pitch systems what the weak link is in the whole system, most would likely say it’s the pitch batteries. Even without looking at the data, any technician knows this, as the task of exchanging and testing battery packs has been a part of their routine for decades. At TransAlta, we were looking for a solution to this issue, as our data shows that pitch faults due to weak batteries are one of our leading causes of downtime and lost production on our GE platforms. In this search for a solution, we met with Richardson Electronics who provided us with a plug and play solution with no modifications to our machines, allowing for an easy install. Richardson was very patient with us as we used caution moving into using their Ultra-caps. We chose to trial the Ultra-caps on several machines, at two sites, for a whole year before making the purchase. After that trial period, we can say that they have been an excellent upgrade, and we can’t wait to get these installed on the rest of the fleet. We have confidence in the product after our trial period and we have many great reviews from other wind companies that made the switch two-to-three years ago and haven’t looked back. Switching to Ultra-caps is going to reduce the number of hub entries and climbs our technicians need to make in a day and we all know that the weather doesn’t always cooperate when we need to get into a hub. Ultra-caps are the solution to reducing lost production, freeing up manpower for more important tasks, and increasing revenue for many years to come.”
News item from Richardson
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