Flender completes construction of logistics hall at Voerde site

Save to read list Published by Jessica Casey, Deputy Editor Energy Global, Thursday, 18 May 2023 11:00

Drive manufacturer, Flender, has completed construction work on the expansion of its site in Voerde, Germany, with the opening of its new logistics and storage hall for the assembly of large gear units. The hall has been built on an open area on the company's premises covering almost 8000 m2. The new building is part of Flender's investments to be able to handle the expected growth in the global wind energy business and to drive the energy transition in Europe. In addition to large components for wind power gearboxes, the logistics hall also serves the industrial business of the global drive specialist.

The new hall is part of a logistics concept that includes the lease of another hall with around 10 000 m2 directly next to the Flender site, and was developed according to the standards of sustainable manufacturing.

Flender CEO, Andreas Evertz, said: "With the new storage areas, we are making our logistics processes sustainable and thus reducing a considerable part of the previous transport routes and the associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Components that were previously stored de-centrally can now be stored centrally and made available for assembly more quickly with optimised transport routes. The energy for the large parts washing machine comes from district heating. Having short material routes, the gearbox parts can be transported directly from the truck to the large gear unit assembly via a roofed airlock. This means that the hall does not cool down and we save valuable energy. In addition, we will equip the entire roof of the new hall with photovoltaic modules. With measures like these, we have already been able to reduce our CO2 emissions by 79% in recent years and are getting closer step by step to our goal of operating on a completely CO2-neutral basis."

Markus Ritte, Head of Flender Real Estate NRW, added: "We are proud to have completed the construction project within 12 months, despite material bottlenecks and the current challenges in the supply chains. When selecting the collaborating companies, we deliberately opted for regional partners in order to drive sustainability forward here as well."

In addition to storage areas, the new building, which is 200 m long and 40 m wide, is home to goods receiving, incoming goods inspection and a cleaning area with a large parts washing machine.

Evertz continued: "The expansion of wind energy is a major challenge. Wind turbines, and with them the gearboxes and drive systems, are continuously growing in size and weight, and demand will increase massively in the coming years. Our new technologies and investments like this expansion of our site in Voerde are also a sign that we are ready to drive the energy transition forward together with our partners."

Flender produces gearboxes and drive systems for the wind sector and the industrial business in Voerde. For wind energy under the Winergy product brand, this also includes complete drive trains consisting of a gearbox and generator with very large and heavy components. With 276 000 m2 of space and around 1500 employees, it is the largest Flender site in Germany.

The Spring 2023 issue of Energy Global hosts an array of technical articles focusing on offshore wind, solar technology, energy storage, green hydrogen, waste-to-energy, and more. This issue also features a regional report on commodity challenges facing Asia's energy transition.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/18052023/flender-completes-construction-of-logistics-hall-at-voerde-site/

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