TECHNOLOGY

Suzlon's multi-dimensional approach to value engineering and cost reduction provides better
margins and a competitive advantage to its customers.
Suzlon turbines operate from Rajasthan in very hot conditions to Canada in subarctic climates,
and are compliant with current grid code standards worldwide.
Technology is the key enabler for a company be a market leader. Suzlon's sophisticated R&D
capabilities in the wind energy space have led to the development of a comprehensive product
portfolio, ranging from 600 kW to 2.1 MW wind turbines.
Wind turbine technology as such continues to be a dynamic field of research with the focus
more on reliability, ease of operation and loads reduction which will enable weight and cost
reductions of wind turbines. There is a strong focus on increasing the energy yield of wind
turbines at a given rating by improving aerodynamics and applying larger rotors.
The Technology Group, led from its R&D Headquarters in Hamburg, derives its technological
success from a close collaboration between the development teams in Germany, The
Netherlands, Denmark and India.
Our Aim

To create market-defining products

To enable entry into new markets with new applications

To implement robust back-end processes

To leverage our workforce competency

BLADE TECHNOLOGY
SE Blades Technology strives for operational excellence through providing product &
process technology for realizing reliable wind turbine blades at the lowest cost of
energy (CoE).
SBT focuses on the development of lowest CoE wind turbine blades by making use
of its integral (product and process design & development) approach:
Design of reliable high performance blades
Design-to-Cost, Design-for-Manufacturing, Design-for-Logistics
Technology development to enable in time product & process design at lowest
possible CoE and highest reliability

Effective and efficient use of its resources (manpower, infrastructure, cash)

NACELLE
The nacelle consists of the following main parts: main frame and girder system that carry the drive train, as well as top cabinet and
on-board hoist.
The drive train belonging components transmit and convert the rotor speed to the generator. The main shaft is supported by the
main bearing on the rotor side. A shrink disc connects the main shaft to the gearbox. Inside the gearbox the main shaft is supported
by a cylindrical roller bearing.
The coupling transmits torque from the gearbox to the generator. It is integrated with a slipping device between the brake disc and
the generator and protects the entire drive train against high torques. The rotor brake is used as a parking brake to stop rotor and
drive train for service and maintenance purposes.

The nacelle is covered by the nacelle housing and connected to the tower via the yaw assembly. The nacelle housing protects the
internal components against various ambient conditions. Two access hatches in the nacelle housing provide access to the measuring
instruments on the nacelle roof and the rotor.
The integration ensures also proper health & safety standards. By using onboard cranes, repair and exchange of components is
possible without an external crane. The nacelle housing is made in sandwich construction to avoid a quick cool down and is
equipped with several fan heaters. The temperature is controlled by temperature sensors.

GEARBOXES
The gearbox converts the low rotor speed of the main shaft into high rotational
speed which is necessary for generator operation.
Currently the gearboxes developed jointly with our gearbox partners have three
stages and gear ratios ranging from 1:75 to 1:120.
An oil pump supplies the gearbox with oil. The oil is filtered by a micro-filter system
and comprises an oil-cooling device.
The internal oil heating is equipped with heating rods. It operates when the oil sump
temperature is below a defined temperature value.
External fan heaters are mounted underneath the gearbox for operation in cold
climate conditions (Low Temperature Version only).

MECHATRONICS
Mechatronics comprises basically two systems: pitch system and yaw system.
The pitch system controls the rotor speed to given set points. It is used as
aerodynamic brake in addition to the mechanical brake. The pitch system operates
as follows: Below the nominal wind speed, the pitch angle is set to a defined blade
angle. Once the wind speed reaches nominal speed, the pitch system starts to
adjust the pitch angle to limit the rotor speed of the WTG to nominal rotor speed.
The optimal energy output is reached at nominal rotor speed.
Each blade has its own pitch drive system consisting of an electrical motor with
gear box driven by a frequency converter, a battery backup system and a forced
ventilation system. The Suzlon Control System (SCS) transmits the required set
points for the blade position. Each blade is controlled separately and independently.
The pitch drive motors are located inside the hub.
The yaw system is used to ensure an optimal alignment of the nacelle/rotor to the
wind. The wind direction is measured by two independent wind sensors at the
equipment frame on the nacelle roof. The sensors transmit the measured values to
the SCS. The yawing is performed by the electromechanical yaw drives, which are
activated as soon as the SCS recognises a certain predefined difference between
the rotor axis and the current wind direction.

GENERATOR & INVERTER

The WTG is equipped with a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) with a converter
in the rotor circuit of the generator.
During operation, the stator side of the generator is permanently connected to the
grid. The rotor windings are connected to the grid via slip rings and a converter that
controls both the rotor and the grid current. Thus, rotor frequency can freely differ
from the grid frequency. By controlling the rotor current with the converter it is
possible to adjust the active and reactive power fed to the grid from the stator and
rotor. An air cooling system keeps the generator at an optimal operating
temperature.
The generator is equipped with anti-condensation heaters which are activated when
the generator is not in operation (generator switched off or rather is disconnected
from the grid) and vice versa. This is done to keep the air temperature inside the

generator(not in operation) slightly higher than the surrounding ambient

temperature to prevent condensation of moisture inside generator on active parts.

TOWER & FOUNDATION

Suzlon uses best-in-quality towers and foundations to ensure the strongest foothold.
The Tower and Foundation consist of the following::
Tubular Steel Tower
Hybrid Lattice Tower
Precast Concrete Tower
Foundation
TUBULAR STEEL TOWER
The tubular steel tower consists of up to four sections, joint by means of bolted
flanges. The tower is built on the foundation using anchor bolts, which are set into
concrete at the foundation.
The tower can be climbed from the inside and is equipped with working platforms
and a ladder with fall protection system. Optionally, a service lift or climbing
assistance can be installed.
The bottom cabinet sections are arranged in the tower bottom. The cabinet sections
are connected to the generator and the top cabinet in the nacelle via power and
control cables.
At the tower top the cables are routed through a cable loop. It allows the nacelle to
turn several times in each direction without damaging the cables. The power cables
between WTG and grid are routed through conduits.
The tower is protected against corrosion with a special sandblasting procedure and
by applying an epoxy resin coating to the tower surface.
The foundation is project-specific, depending on the ground conditions and the local
rules and regulations.

HYBRID LATTICE TOWER

With hybrid lattice tower greater hub heights can be achieved. It consists of the
three components lattice tower, transition piece and tubular tower. The lattice tower
is set on the foundation and is assembled directly at site. The transition piece
connects the lattice tower to the tubular tower. The tubular tower consists of
sections joint by means of bolted flanges.
The tower can be climbed from the inside and is equipped with working platforms,
ladder with fall protection system and a service lift. The bottom cabinet sections are
arranged in the transition piece.

The cabinet sections are connected to the generator and the top cabinet in the
nacelle via power and control cables. At the tower top the cables are routed through
a cable loop. It allows the nacelle to turn several times in each direction without
damaging the cables. The power cables between WTG and grid are routed through
conduits. The tower is protected against corrosion with special coating. The
foundation is project-specific, depending on the ground conditions and the local
rules and regulations.
PRECAST CONCRETE TOWER
The concrete tower consists of precast ring elements, which are assembled and
connected at site.
The tower can be climbed from the inside and is equipped with working platforms
and a ladder with fall protection system. Optionally, a service lift or climbing
assistance can be installed. The bottom cabinet sections are arranged in the tower
bottom. The cabinet sections are connected to the generator and the top cabinet in
the nacelle via power and control cables.
At the tower top the cables are routed through a cable loop. It allows the nacelle to
turn several times in each direction without damaging the cables. The power cables
between WTG and grid are routed through conduits.
The foundation is project-specific, depending on the ground conditions and the local
rules and regulations.
FOUNDATION
Wind Turbines foundations are constructed for a variety of terrains under
challenging soil and environmental conditions.
Foundations are classified into different types for engineering purposes:

Raft foundations

Pile foundations
Well foundations

The most popular type is the raft footing in different shapes, which varies as per:

Wind Class
Type of Tower (Lattice/ Tubular)
Capacity of WTG

The foundation design is project-specific, depending on the ground conditions and

the local rules and regulations.

PARK CONTROL
The park control covers all control devices (hardware and software) which are
necessary to operate the entire wind farm, in particular monitoring and control on
park level.

SCADA

SCADA system is the state-of-the-art solution developed in-house for all Suzlon Wind
Farms and Wind Turbines. It comprises of tools which are extensively used for
operations, data acquisitions, analysis, and reporting.
Suzlon SCADA system features SC-Commander which is the Control and Monitoring
user interface. It provides direct access to Suzlon Wind Turbines and Met Stations for
detailed analysis and operations.
SC-SCADA Reporting is a web-based solution, providing a reporting package for
Suzlon Wind Power Plants. SC-SCADA Reporting Server is a central Suzlon database
where wind power plant data is hosted for reporting. It retrieves the 10-minute data
from the SC-Wind Turbine and SC-Met Station from all connected wind power plants.

POWER PLANT CONTROL

The Suzlon Power Plant Control SC-PPC monitors and controls a wind farm as one
power plant. It provides a common access for all online data of the wind farm and
individual turbines.
Key function is the power control at the connection point: active and reactive power,
power factor, frequency and grid voltage according to local grid standards.

Individual WTG set points can be calculated with respect to status and configuration
of each WTG.
The SC-PPC displays operational online data of each WTG, of the substation, and
meteorological data of the met-station.

SYSTEM INTEGRATION
System Integration comprises System Engineering as well as two specific functions,
which have a strong system integration character: Load Simulation and the WTG
control system.

LOADS

Load simulation is a key activity throughout the development process of Suzlon

wind turbines. Core part is a detailed aero-mechanical model of the entire WTG.
Running the model requires detailed input of system data across all design function,
e.g. rotor blade, drive train, generator and converter, tower and foundation,
controls, nacelle integration and stress analysis.
Another key area is the detailed dynamic analysis of the drive train. For all
simulation activities state-of-the-art tools are used, of which some have been
specially developed in-house.

CONTROLS

The Suzlon Control System (SCS) has been developed in close association with
world leaders in the field, who have rich experience of setting up over 5000 wind
turbines worldwide. Built from scratch, SCS has been designed to perform in tough
environmental conditions. As such, it can withstand shock, vibration and
temperatures ranging from arctic cold to hot and tropically humid.

Features

It uses robust and industrial grade hardware and the latest software and
development tools
It uses carefully chosen and harmonized hardware and software
It is easy to fine tune the control system to its highest performance at the
lowest cost
It provides excellent safety and reliability, while generating optimal energy
output
It consists of a high performance PLC, which is modular and provides high
degree of customization
It consists of various modules for interfacing different types of signals
It is scalable in nature with standard interface options and a web-enabled
communication option
SYSTEM ENGINEERING

Systems Engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary approach to enable the realization

of successful systems by verification of the technical integrity of a WTG System
design. We focus on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the
development cycle by requirements management and provision of traceability all
over the WTG life cycle.
System Engineering manages the design requirements validation and ensures the
compliance of "design requirements" by design verification, which is done by design
reviews all over the WTG life cycle.
The design configurations are managed and its changes and interfaces are
coordinated in a defined process.
RAMS:System Engineering delivers reliability, availability, maintainability and
functional safety analyses and requirements and performs DFMEAs.