Renewable energy organisation Narec is hoping its Clothier Laboratories site will soon be putting wind turbine blades through their paces in South Tyneside.
The Hebburn-based factory celebrated its 40th anniversary yesterday and is looking to play a major role in the development of renewable energy to meet the UK’s future power needs.
It was taken over by Narec in 2004, and offers rigorous testing to new and existing electrical power systems.
Narec’s director of electrical networks Alex Neumann said: “We’ve never had wind turbine blades here but we’re at an advanced stage of talks about bringing blades into the facility.
“Wind turbines are big structures that stand up in rural areas and offshore and practically attract lightning. You can’t just drive a truck up and replace a blade if lightning strikes it.
“We have a big part to play in increasing the reliability of systems because we can test a system to make sure it’s going to be operational for 20 to 25 years.
“We’re working with people to create robust and innovative designs that can withstand the harsh environments out there.”
The Clothier Laboratories were opened by William Wedgewood Benn on May 12, 1970, as a purpose-built high-voltage facility commissioned for Reyrolle. Alphonse Reyrolle established his first Hebburn factory in 1901 and joined forces with Henry Clothier to create the company. It provided switchgear for the power generation and had a workforce of 10,000 people at its peak.
Narec took control of the facility in 2004, and it now serves regional, national and overseas clients including Trench, ABB, Arriva and JDR Cable. It made £750,000 in commercial revenue last year.
Mr Neumann said: “Historically the service offering has been used predominantly by manufacturers but as manufacturing in the UK is not growing substantially, we’re finding more and more that we’re developing relationships with utilities and network operators.
“They want to make sure the kit they’re installing is fit for purpose and that the kit they already have is robust. The facility is an ultra-high voltage test facility. We can generate impulses to simulate lightning. We’re a big facility with big bangs and big sparks.
“It doesn’t immediately strike you why this would interest Narec, but electrical networks are a fundamental part of the power system in the future.”
The Clothier Laboratories are being used to test the robustness of networks taking power from offshore locations to onshore sites, as well as to big load centres in the centre of the country. Narec recently opened a wind power training facility in Blyth, and Mr Neumann says the work in Hebburn is “another string to our bow”.
He said: “We can provide another service, that of resilience and reliability. We expect that when the standards for this technology are reissued, manufacturers will have to comply with them and seek certification, which we can offer.
“We currently have 15 people at Clothier and we have a plan to grow our team.”
Source: The Journal 13/05/2010
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