Schaeffler wins Nordex supplier award for innovation in wind turbine bearings
Schaeffler has received the Supplier Award in the Innovation category from wind turbine maker Nordex Group at the WindEnergy Hamburg trade fair, honouring a long-standing development partnership.
- 4-7 MW
What Happened
Schaeffler, which describes itself as a Motion Technology Company, was presented with the "Supplier Award in the Category Innovation" by the Nordex Group at the WindEnergy Hamburg leading trade fair. The award recognizes a long-standing development partnership between the two companies. Schaeffler is a preferred development partner of Nordex, its leading supplier of main bearings, and is represented with its products across the entire drivetrain. Joint development work focuses on more robust drivetrain solutions and on bearing concepts for the next generation of wind turbines.
- Supplier Award in the Innovation category for Schaeffler
- Recognition of a long-standing development partnership
- "Closed Loop Engineering" as the basis for the sustainable further development of wind turbines
“The energy transition places high technological and economic demands on the wind industry. For that we need strong partners that do not just promise innovation but implement it in concrete, reliable solutions. With its development expertise and its partnership approach, Schaeffler makes an important contribution to this goal.”
4-7MW
Current focus of the Nordex portfolio; the Hamburg-headquartered group is among the world's leading suppliers of these onshore turbines.
“Nordex is a strategically important partner for us in a dynamic growth market. With our innovative bearing solutions we support the continuous further development of powerful and reliable wind turbines. We are pleased to expand our cooperation further and to develop joint solutions that strengthen our customers' competitiveness and enable further growth in the wind energy market.”
The award confirms Schaeffler's claim to be a strategic development partner of the wind industry. Schaeffler's "Closed Loop Engineering" approach forms a closed loop in which the insights gained flow back into product development.
“We carry out extensive system simulations, tests under realistic conditions and field measurement campaigns, and we use the results to continuously improve the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the products, and therefore of the overall system.”
Previously from Schaeffler Group
Schaeffler has recently announced bearing-based technology for other industrial sectors. In September 2026 it said it is developing a series of high-performance wheelset bearings for high-speed trains targeting speeds of 400 km/h and above while more than doubling maintenance intervals. At InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, it showed an axlebox generator, its ITRS power system and electromechanical actuators that it says can automate rail freight wagons.
- Schaeffler develops high-speed rail wheelset bearings for 400 km/h and longer maintenance intervals
- Schaeffler showcases axlebox generators and power-on-demand actuators for automated rail freight at InnoTrans 2026
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Schaeffler Group's official releases.
Why this matters
The award spotlights the component suppliers behind the energy transition: Nordex's CEO says the wind industry needs partners that do not just promise innovation but turn it into concrete, reliable solutions. Schaeffler is Nordex's preferred development partner, its leading supplier of main bearings and present across the entire drivetrain, so the recognition centres on the bearing technology inside onshore turbines in the 4-7 megawatt class.
Terms in This Story
- Onshore
- Describes wind turbines installed on land, as opposed to offshore turbines built at sea.
- Drivetrain
- The group of components that carries rotational power from a turbine's rotor through to the generator.
- Closed Loop Engineering
- An engineering approach in which findings from simulations, tests and field measurements are fed back into product development in a continuous cycle.
- Main bearing
- The large bearing that supports the main rotor shaft of a wind turbine.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.