Scale-up of Coil Winding and Magnet Assembly Manufacturing Processes for a Rare Earth-Free Permanent Magnet Generator

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The UK Government intends to play a lead role in carbon emissions reduction to reduce the impact of climate change. It is also committed to reducing UK energy costs and improving energy security, via increased renewables generation. Offshore wind is seen as a key contributor, with a 2030 target of 50GW. The war in Ukraine, which has resulted in escalating global energy costs, has highlighted the importance of achieving these objectives.Wind turbine Permanent Magnet Generators (PMGs) use conventional designs that rely on one key material, Rare Earth magnets. GreenSpur, a Time To Act subsidiary, has invented and patented a new and highly innovative design - a PMG that substitutes scarce and expensive Rare Earth magnets for cheap and abundant ferrite magnets. It can also use new Rare Earth-free "Gap Magnets", such as those coming to market from Niron Magnetics of the USA. Niron have developed a new mid-strength Iron Nitride magnet, which has a flux strength in the "gap" between low-strength ferrites and high-strength Rare Earths.The global wind turbine market uses large volumes of Rare Earth magnets, which are almost exclusively sourced from China. This exposure is significant as the EU currently imports \>90% of its Rare Earth magnets from China and supply shortages are forecast from the mid-to-late 2020s onwards (Wood Mackenzie). GreenSpur's innovation can eliminate Rare Earth risk, which will prove crucial as we move towards Net Zero.GreenSpur's vision is to stimulate the development of a UK supply chain that can build generators ranging from 30kW to 6MW for the onshore wind market. It also plans to collaborate with major OEMs to develop a Rare Earth-free design for next generation 20MW plus offshore wind turbines.Building on the success of an earlier DER project, which developed in-situ magnetisation and semi-automated coil winding, GreenSpur developed a standardised modular design. It can be scaled to manufacture generators ranging from 30kW to 1MW. This project will focus on developing flexible tooling to scale-up these innovative manufacturing techniques.The project is in collaboration with three partners. Two are leading members of the UK PEMD supply chain partners, Hirst Magnetic Instruments and BC Electrical Techniques. The third is the University of Birmingham, who are recognised as a world leading magnetic research institution. The project will significantly scale-up GreenSpur's manufacturing capability. Upon completion it will support the manufacture of generators ranging from 30kW to 1MW to customers and development partners.