The SKF Asia Pacific wind industry service centre was inaugurated at the SKF Solution Factory in Shanghai, China, in April 2010. This is the third centre tailored especially for the wind industry, following the centres in Hamburg, Germany, and Houston, Texas, in the United States.

SKF has been focusing on applying reliability-centred maintenance technology to wind turbines for many years, and has extensive knowledge and experience in providing remote condition monitoring service, asset management service and spare parts management service to wind farm customers throughout Europe and the US.

As the development of large-scale wind power projects in China accelerates, the efficiency and reliability in operating and maintaining wind farms is becoming increasingly important. The centre has been established to meet the market demand for maintenance technology in the wind industry and to provide one-stop solutions in the fast growing market of wind farm operation and mainten-ance in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in China.

SKF has also recently inaugurated a new global technical centre in Shanghai. The centre will be an integral part of SKF’s global network of technical centres and will enable the development of products and solutions for local and global customers in a faster and more cost-effective way.

Initially, the SKF Global Technical Centre will focus on testing and providing advanced technical knowledge for design, process and supplier validation. In addition, the centre will conduct bearing analysis for customers and will have a fully equipped laboratory for metallurgy and chemistry.