This means new wind turbines need to be built, and one of the materials ideal for this task is aluminium. Aluminium stands up well in demanding conditions and saltwater ecosystems, where waves, storms and salty humid sea winds can corrode exposed turbine components.

Why is aluminium the material of choice?

Aluminium’s resistance to corrosion is better than that of other materials, such as steel, and together with its light weight and strength, the metal can help you cut supply and operational costs in offshore renewable applications.

Using aluminium will lengthen the lifetime of these parts, while reducing maintenance costs.

The advantages of using aluminium extrusions from Hydro:

• Higher corrosion resistance (no surface treatment required) than many other metals in maritime environments, including steel
• Significantly lower life-cycle costs as there is no need for paint repairs or replacements caused by corrosion
• Full recyclability with high scrap value
• As a one-stop-shop, we can manufacture, mill, anodize, powder coat and cut your extruded profiles to size. This enables you to order a complete product, and saves you time.
• We offer small and mid-sized solutions, as well as big and wide friction stir-welded possibilities if you want to go even bigger

Aluminium extrusions are ideally suited for use as walkways, stairs, railings and balustrades both in wind turbines and floating structures, as you can see below:

 

 

Tower internals:

 

• Tower platform
• Tower ladders and handrails
• Lift systems
• Cable mounting systems
• Fall protection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tower external:

 

• Tower external entry platform
• Stairs
• Handrails
• Walkways

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nacelle/Generator:

 

• Walkways
• Cable mounting systems
• Component mounting systems
• Aluminium rotor components