Macom, a Paisley-based gear technology specialist, has struck a £425,000 deal to improve the reliability of turbines operating on a windfarm in Texas.

Macom, a Paisley-based gear technology specialist, has struck a £425,000 deal to improve the reliability of turbines operating on a windfarm in Texas.

Gearing is a crucial part of the wind energy generation process and makes up around 40% of the total cost of a turbine, therefore any failure can be extremely costly.

The deal to supply 263 of the company's Techalert debris sensors was struck with US stock market-listed wind turbine manufacturer Clipper.

Eight-year-old Macom's innovative sensor system, which is based on technology that was originally developed at the University of Edinburgh, automatically detects damaging debris which can build up inside a turbine's oil lubrication system and cause expensive mechanical damage.

This information is passed from the sensors to a central control point, where it can be monitored and then acted upon.

Wear and tear from debris circulating within the lubrication system is the prime cause of gearbox failure in wind turbines, according to Macom, which is supported by Scottish Enterprise.

Ashraf Abdelrahim, Macom's managing director, said: "This application can be used to monitor debris damage within any machinery that uses a gearbox, but is particularly suited to wind turbines because of the extraordinary stresses they come under, the remoteness of their locations and the cost of repair.

"It only takes a tiny amount of material grinding away to quickly cause a damaging build-up within the oil system."

The company, which currently has eight employees, said it is in negotiation with a number companies in Europe and South America about applying its oil debris sensor system to other industry sectors such as oil and gas and mining. It said it is also negotiating with "two major European power companies".

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing sources of energy in the world. Over the past five years, global wind power capacity has continued to grow at an average annual rate of 28%.

The market for wind turbines worldwide was worth more than £5bn last year.