At the northernmost tip of Prince Edward Island, red sandstone cliffs overlook towering wind turbines that stand 260 feet tall. Known for its potato farms and horse stables, this remote corner of Canada, also houses a cutting-edge powerhouse: the Wind Energy Institute of Canada (WEICan), a hub of innovation where science, industry, and renewable power converge. Here, a new generation of wind turbine lubricants is being developed thanks to a hands-on collaboration between WEICan and the Mobil™ experts.
Our shared mission
WEICan owns and operates its own fleet of turbines, giving the organization firsthand insight into the daily challenges of turbine maintenance, performance, and environmental exposure. Paired with the Mobil team’s 30+ years of wind lubricant innovation and global supply network, it’s a powerful combination.
When turbines go offline for maintenance, they’re not generating power, which impacts both the grid and the bottom line. That’s why the goal of the collaboration is to create advanced lubricants that helps extend the life of turbine components and increase the time between maintenance intervals.* As Marianne Rodgers, scientific director at WEICan, puts it: “All of the moving parts, from the outside blades to the interior equipment, rely on an oil or grease to operate.”
A collaborative approach to innovation
At WEICan, technicians and researchers are constantly working to optimize turbine performance. That means taking things to new heights — literally. For wind turbine technicians, scaling 33 stories into the sky to inspect turbines and collect critical lubricant samples is just another day on the job.
Most recently, WEICan and ExxonMobil collaborated to test and transition between gearbox lubricants in five turbines, each with a different flushing strategy, to demonstrate the operational improvements of using Mobil SHC™ Gear 320 WT. According to Andrea Williamson, Lubrication Engineer at ExxonMobil, their recent work has been able to prove that a drain and fill transition protocol is just as valuable to that of a drain, flush and fill.
“Because of this data, we were able to simplify our warranty requirements, now allowing for full 10-year warranty on the Mobil SHC™ Gear 320 WT with a drain and fill protocol,” she says.
Taking samples of the lubricants helps provide insights that equipment is running smoothly and helps prevent failures. But taking an oil sample from a 260-foot-high turbine isn’t quite the same as changing your car’s oil. It requires planning, physical effort, and detailed coordination with lab researchers to produce meaningful data from the samples. That’s why the Mobil team, through its collaboration with Poseidon Systems, offers live oil condition monitoring using advanced on-line sensor technology to deliver real-time insights on the health of your assets. Combined with premium lubricants and Mobil℠ Lubricant Analysis as needed, this offering can help wind operators reduce downtime, optimize lubricant usage, and predict maintenance needs before problems escalate — supporting reliable and efficient turbine performance for sustained energy generation.
*Refer to OEM application requirements and oil drain intervals for your equipment.
- Help extend the life of turbine components
- Help increase the time between maintenance intervals
“Collaborating with the Mobil team has been great,” says Marianne Rodgers. “They have lots of new, innovative solutions coming down the pipe.”
Together, ExxonMobil and WEICan are combining our respective areas of expertise to advance the wind industry and continue innovating for more reliability and efficiency.