Energy & Power Generation Machining
Machined components for wind, solar, hydrogen and grid infrastructure. Gearbox housings, tracker drives, electrolyser and fuel-cell plates, switchgear enclosures. The recurring requirements are corrosion from offshore and coastal service, fatigue from cyclical loading, and dimensional verification of parts that have to assemble with something made elsewhere.
What Decides the Process Here
Corrosion, not strength
Offshore and coastal installations are specified for the environment rather than the load. That usually means 316L or duplex stainless, and it changes the machining: stainless work-hardens under a dull tool and tears instead of cutting, so feeds and tool life decide the finish more than the geometry does.
Fatigue from cycles
A component that sees ten million load reversals is limited by surface condition, not by tensile strength. A scratch, a sharp internal corner or a tool mark is where the crack starts, so radii and finish on the highly stressed faces matter more than the tolerance on the non-critical ones.
It has to fit something else
A gearbox housing, a tracker bearing seat, a fuel-cell plate stack - these assemble with parts from other suppliers. The critical dimension is usually a position or a fit between two features rather than the size of either, which is why the datums on the drawing decide what the shop has to hold.
Components We Machine for Energy
Wind Gearbox Housings
Cast iron / S355 steel
±0.05mm · Large-format milling, bored bearing seats
Process detail →Switchgear & Inverter Enclosures
Al 5754 / sheet steel
±0.1mm · Sheet metal fabrication
Process detail →Two Questions We Are Asked Every Week
Can you hold the flatness on a thin plate?
Usually, and the honest answer depends on how you fixture it rather than on the machine. A fuel-cell or heat-exchanger plate is thin relative to its width, so it deflects under the cut and springs back - the plate measures differently clamped than free. If the flatness is measured in the free state, say so on the drawing: it changes how the part is held and how it is checked, and it is cheaper to design for than to argue about at inspection.
Does the material have to be 316L?
Sometimes the answer is yes for a real reason (chloride service, welded assemblies that will not be stress-relieved) and sometimes it is a default carried over from a previous supplier. 316L machines slower than 304 and much slower than carbon steel, so if the corrosion case is marginal it is worth saying what the part actually sees. We will quote what the drawing says either way.
Quoting an Energy Programme?
Send the drawing and the service conditions - the environment and the load case change the material and the finish more than the geometry does.
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