Industrial equipment manufacturer, WEG is celebrating a period of rapid growth for its alternator and generator business. As one of the largest alternator manufacturers in Latin America, WEG’s engineering expertise is now making headway in the European market. Here, Manoj Kakaya, high voltage solutions sales manager for Europe and the Middle East at WEG, examines the expansion of WEG’s alternator business in Europe.
WEG has long designed and manufactured high quality alternators at its headquarters in Brazil — having manufactured more than 200,000 in the company’s history. WEG offers a broad range of alternators that can be engineered to fit the bespoke specifications of a customer’s project. During the last four years, the brand’s presence in Europe’s alternator market has expanded rapidly, growing at an average 85 per cent year-on-year growth. In fact, WEG now stocks over 300 alternators in the UK alone, ranging from 10 to 1,300 kVA.
Supporting emergency power
Among WEG’s successes in the alternator market is a completed project to supply eight 1,700 kVA alternators for to the Clinical Centre of Serbia hospital facility. Located in Belgrade, the country’s capital, the hospital treats one million patients each year and boasts the highest number of hospital beds in Europe.
The project supported the construction of 28,000m² of new hospital buildings, including new operating rooms, dispensaries and a thousand additional bed units. Unsurprisingly, this expansion created a need for additional power equipment and an effective supply system to ensure reliability.
When selecting an alternator supplier, WEG’s technology stood out due to the solid construction cast-iron frame of the alternators, specifically the AG10 line, which were preferred to the rolled-steel alternatives. The cast-iron frame allows for better power density, reduced vibration and more efficient cooling.
WEG also offered its own technology with the alternator, to emulate the characteristics of an exterior permanent magnet generator — without increasing the length and price of the machine. WEG’s I-PMG technology is an integrated separate winding within the machine that eliminates the need for an external PMG, which allows for a smaller footprint than competitors’ systems and keeps costs down.
All WEG’s synchronous alternators have permanent magnets inserted on the main exciter stator, guaranteeing and maintaining a residual magnetic flux to build up the
voltage during the alternator start. This is guaranteed even after long idling periods which is usual on standby applications.
The presence of the permanent magnets makes the residual voltage 600 per cent higher than traditional systems, ensuring fast response capabilities. This is a major factor for reliability in standby applications, like the hospital in Belgrade.
Critical infrastructure power
In another project, WEG was selected to supply equipment to the Stadius City Hall of Antwerp, in Belgium. The generator in the basement of the Stadhuis is crucial in maintaining a secure power supply for the building.
As part of the project, WEG was enlisted to provide a WEG 135 kilo-volt-amp (KVA) alternator type GTA251AIHD which runs in sync with the power supply. This alternator is fitted with I-PMG Permanent magnet inserts for high quality power and reliability.
The synchronous alternator boasts I-PMG and permanent magnet inserts for higher-quality power and reliability, ensuring great performance for the building and back-up power when required.
WEG I-PMG and PMI are supplied as standard through our range and these benefits are also advantageous for deployment in industrial applications in sectors such as mining, steel, paper, oil and gas and energy transmission, among others.
Growth for WEG alternators
WEG has experienced continued success for its alternator business in the UK, Europe and Middle East. Part of this is attributed to the vertically integrated nature of WEG’s business — the company manufactures its own varnish, electrical wires, enamelling, frames, laminations, and several other components that are required for alternator manufacture.
This integration allows WEG to provide greater flexibility to the customer and ensure high quality in all stages of manufacturing. Crucially, this also avoids some supply chain headaches the industry is currently experiencing, resulting in shorter lead times for customers. Importantly for the European market, all of WEG’s alternators also come with a European certificate of conformity.
As the alternator market continues to expand — the sector is expected to grow at a rate of 6.1 per cent between 2021 and 2028 — customers must ensure their suppliers are providing the best possible equipment for their projects with acceptable price and lead times.
For more information on WEG’s alternators, please visit http://www.weg.net.
WEG Europe and Middle East 