Idemitsu Kosan targets growing market of wind-turbine lubricants

Idemitsu Kosan plans to elevate to some 10% in several years, from a few percent level currently, its share of the global market for lubricating oils used in the wind turbines of wind farms. Based on an on-going shift worldwide toward non-fossil energy resources, the company projects the global wind-power industry to expand by 2.5 times from the present level to 290 GW in five years, spread across 200,000 wind farms, with each wind farm estimated to require an average of 500 liters of lubricants. With a full line-up of products to lubricate the different parts of wind turbines already available on the market, Idemitsu intends to offer a new lubricant designed specifically for use in step-up gears, which enable higher-speed operations. (June 10, 2010)