Detailed Explanation of Electric Motor Applications in Wind Power Equipment

1. Component Composition

A wind turbine is the core device that converts wind energy into electrical energy. It is typically composed of the following key components:

• Rotor System: Includes blades and the hub, which are the front-end structures that receive wind energy, directly affecting power generation efficiency.
• Drive System: Consists of the main shaft and gearbox (or direct drive system), converting the low-speed, high-torque rotation of the rotor into high-speed rotation suitable for the generator.
• Generator: Converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Common types include asynchronous generators and permanent magnet synchronous generators.
• Yaw System: Controls the orientation of the nacelle via the yaw motor to track the wind direction, improving wind energy utilization.
• Pitch System: Adjusts the angle of the blades to control power output and respond to extreme weather conditions, relying on motor-driven precise and fast responses.
• Nacelle and Tower: Houses the core equipment and provides structural support.
• Control and Monitoring System: Includes wind speed and direction sensors, converters, PLC control units, and more.

2. Working Principle

The rotor rotates under the influence of wind, driving the main shaft, gearbox, and generator. The control system coordinates parameters such as blade pitch angle and electromagnetic excitation through real-time wind speed monitoring and grid demands, adjusting output power, optimizing power generation efficiency, and ensuring fault protection.

Electric motors are widely used throughout the wind turbine system for auxiliary drive control, such as yaw angle adjustment, blade pitch, generator excitation, and brake mechanism unlocking, all of which directly impact the safety and power generation efficiency of the entire machine.

3. Key Role of Motors in the System

Wind power equipment has extremely high demands on motor performance and reliability, and the main applications include:

• Pitch Motor: Installed at the base of each blade to adjust the blade angle, enabling power regulation, wind speed overload protection, and start-stop control. Servo motors or electric cylinders are typically used, requiring fast response, high torque, and reliable operation.
• Yaw Motor: Controls the rotation of the entire nacelle around the tower to keep the rotor facing the wind direction. The motor must support parallel drive by multiple units, high starting torque, and precise positioning control.
• Brake Release Motor: Drives the hydraulic pump or releases the disc brake to ensure reliable system locking during maintenance or emergency shutdown.
• Generator Excitation Motor/System: Used to regulate electromagnetic excitation, controlling stable voltage and frequency output.
• Cooling Fan Motor and Lubrication Pump Motor: Ensures the electrical control cabinet and generator set continue to operate under high power density, maintaining system thermal balance.

4. Customized Motor Solutions

Given the complex operating environment, high maintenance difficulty, and extreme reliability requirements of wind turbines, we offer highly integrated and protected motor solutions for key subsystems. For example, in the pitch control system, we recommend using the GPG-PR260 series high-torque servo motors, paired with planetary gear reduction systems that can output continuous torque up to 1800Nm. These motors are suitable for mainstream 1.5MW~5MW class wind turbine blade angle adjustments, with encoders supporting 16-bit high-resolution feedback for precise control of the blade's attack angle, preventing overspeed or stall risks.

The yaw system uses the GPG-YM110 series yaw motor set, which includes motor braking and fault self-locking functions, supporting multi-motor parallel control mode. It also supports EtherCAT industrial communication, making it easy for remote diagnostics and synchronized control.

In high-temperature, humid, and sandy environments, we offer custom services such as IP67 protection grade encapsulation, nitrogen-filled motor cavities, and anti-salt mist corrosion-resistant coatings, effectively extending the system's maintenance-free period to over 5 years. Additionally, we provide wind farm operation and maintenance enterprises with intelligent status monitoring modules (GPG-MonitorEdge), which collect real-time motor operation data to enable remote warnings and fault localization, significantly reducing downtime risks and maintenance costs. This comprehensive solution has been widely used in offshore wind farms, mountainous wind farms, and other extreme environments, helping customers improve system power generation efficiency and the overall lifecycle performance of the equipment.