GRI IRAETA_ THE LARGEST FLANGES FOR WIND TURBINE SUPPORT STRUCTURES

In 2005, IBARMIA developed a new concept of high-productivity drilling centre that revolutionized the market for drilling large flanges. It arose from an order for a machine with gantry architecture and one of its main requirements was that it had to be as strong as a tank because at IRAETA they frequently “destroyed” their machine tools by constant use.

And that was the beginning of a successful partnership between the former FORJAS DE IRAETA – now known as GRI FORJAS IRAETA – and IBARMIA. This project was the turning point in a relationship that has lasted until the present day: the IRAETA Group is still one of IBARMIA’s customers in Euskadi, Brazil and China.

GRI FORJAS de IRAETA, located in the Txiriboga de Zestoa district, opened the doors of its first production centre in Zestoa (Spain) in 1961. It was committed from its very beginnings to large-scale investment and rapid growth with the aim of providing its customers with a worldwide solution to their needs. Today it is a global benchmark for provision of castings and flanges, with a strong commitment to quality and service. GRI FORJAS de IRAETA now belongs to the IRAETA ENERGY EQUIPMENT (IEE) group that has recently been listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China.

The latest cooperation project between GRI FLANGES and IBARMIA began in early 2021. The goal of the commission for the Zestoa plant was to provide a technical response to the need to manufacture flanges up to 8 m in diameter for the offshore wind-power industry for which the client was at a loss for a solution that would enable them to handle workpieces of such dimensions. The final proposal for the design, manufacture and installation of the required machining line included separate drilling and turning centres (CPD 8000 VV CLASSIC and LDV 8000 RT respectively). Thanks to installation of this new line, the machining processes required to transform the forged ring into the target flange were handled by two machines. This processing mainly requires machining (producing the final flange dimensions) and vertical drilling (holes for the bolted connections).

Today, the new machining line is producing probably the largest flanges to be found on the wind turbine support structure market.