Erreka presented its innovative Erreka Digital Bolt technology at the WindEurope trade fair.

The engineering solutions developed by Erreka’s Smart Fastening business are playing a key role in the maintenance of existing wind farms.

In a ground-breaking development, Erreka Digital Bolt (EDB) has introduced a revolutionary solution for the accurate measurement of clamping load in wind turbine applications. This cutting-edge technology has been extensively tested by leading wind turbine OEMs in the European Union, with more than 50,000 units successfully deployed onshore and offshore. Now, with DNV approval, Erreka Digital Bolt is set to redefine industry standards.

As Ainhoa Larrañaga, director of Erreka Smart Fastening, explains, 20 years ago they saw that the inconsistency of the bolt load had its drawbacks, so they began to develop a technology with which they could know exactly what the load of the bolt is, in order to greatly improve the customer’s costs in both product and maintenance.

This is how Larrañaga explains the Erreka Digital Bolt technology: “It is a sensor that is installed on the bolts and which uses ultrasound to obtain a reading of the speed of the wave that passes through the bolt, which gives us very precise information on the load. This direct load information has allowed customers to better size the bolts, improve maintenance and make decisions based on real information”.

The technology received DNV approval, which confirms its compliance with industry standards and reinforces its reliability.

WindEurope, a meeting of industry professionals

The WindEurope 2024 trade fair was held in Bilbao from 20 to 22 March. It brought together more than 10,000 industry professionals who were able to listen to experts in different sessions and interact with more than 400 exhibitors to display all the innovations in the wind energy market, both inside and outside Europe, representing the extensive wind energy value chain.

Larrañaga highlighted the large number of meetings they were able to hold: “We are very pleased with both the number of visits and the quality of the visits,” she said.