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Fixing the bolting bottleneck: smarter tools for wind turbine assembly

Published in: Wind, Talking Point, Exclusive Articles

Fixing the bolting bottleneck: smarter tools for wind turbine assembly image

At the base of a towering wind turbine, one often overlooked component holds everything together. The stud bolt plays a vital role, with thousands of precisely tensioned fasteners behind every structure. They are critical to stability yet remain largely invisible, and despite their importance, they have long posed a persistent challenge for the industry.

A time-consuming and costly challenge

Bolting is one of the most repetitive and labour-intensive parts of turbine assembly and maintenance. Precision is crucial. A single missed or incorrectly tensioned stud can lead to serious structural issues. Installation teams spend significant time tightening every connection. For example, one flange with M72 studs can take up to three hours to tighten properly. On the critical path of turbine assembly, this translates to major cost implications.

Once the turbine is operational, the work does not stop. Industry standards require 10 % of bolts to be checked every one to two years to ensure continued performance and safety. For large wind farms, this adds up to thousands of checks, each needing skilled labour, specialised equipment and turbine downtime. With little or no recorded data from initial tightening, every inspection must be repeated manually, as if it were the first. The Netherlands based IntoMachines B.V. specializes in tooling for faster and easier bolting operations of wind turbines. The main product ranges consist of lifting trolleys for heavy bolting tools, automated SMART tensioners, and autonomous bolting robots.

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