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Fluid Power Equipment and Servicing for Power Generation and Renewables
A gas-fired power station, a wind farm and a biomass plant make electricity in different ways. Each still depends on the same supporting equipment: dry instrument air, high-pressure starting air, hydraulics that hold their charge and oil that stays clean.
When you choose power generation equipment suppliers for those systems, you’re choosing who gets your plant back on line when one of them fails.
What Do Generating Sites Need From a Fluid Power Supplier?
Availability comes first. A generating unit earns its keep by being ready to run, so the compressors, hydraulic power units and filters behind it have to be ready too.
Control Gear supplies, installs, services and repairs compressed air, hydraulics, filtration, hose and pneumatics for power and renewable energy sites, under one team.
Compliance comes next, because receivers, starting-air vessels and steam lines are pressure systems. Then there’s condition monitoring: knowing the state of your oil, your air and your accumulators before a fault tells you.
Control Gear Group, specialists in compressed air and industrial equipment, has supplied and serviced fluid power systems since 1973 from Treforest, near Pontypridd. Our engineers work on site across South Wales and the South West, and we supply UK-wide.
50+
years of industrial equipment experience
Compressed Air, Instrument Air and Starting Air
Compressed air has been our core business for five decades. As an Atlas Copco Premier Distributor, we supply, install and maintain compressors, dryers and blowers from Atlas Copco, one of the world’s largest compressed air manufacturers. On a generating site that air does several separate jobs.
Instrument, Starting, Purge and Conveying Air
Instrument air drives valve positioners and plant controls, and it has to be oil-free and dry.
Starting air at high pressure turns over gas turbines and standby diesel generators.
Purge and atomising air serves dual-fuel gas turbines.
Conveying air from blowers moves fly ash and limestone through boiler plant.
Instrument Air Quality
Instrument air is where poor air quality does the most damage. Moisture or oil reaches positioners and solenoids, valves stick, and a control valve that sticks on a running unit can trip it. That’s why we specify oil-free compressors to Class 0, the most stringent oil class in ISO 8573-1, the international standard for compressed air purity, backed by desiccant dryers and filtration.
Service, Repair and Breakdown Cover
Our engineers service and repair Atlas Copco machines and other major makes, offer the Guardian Service Plan with fixed annual service and warranty cover for seven or nine years, and provide 24/7 breakdown cover across South Wales and the West. Atlas Copco SMARTLINK remote monitoring can flag a developing fault before it stops the plant. Our page on compressed air for the energy sector covers the compressor types in more detail.
Hire Compressors and Dryers for Outages
Outages, commissioning and breakdowns all need temporary air. Our hire fleet includes Class 0 oil-free ZR and ZT compressors and desiccant dryers rated to a pressure dew point of -40 °C or -70 °C.
Spot hire runs by the day or week, and contract hire from 3 to 36 months. Hire packages come with dryers, filters, receivers and a written scheme of examination, so the temporary system is compliant from the moment it’s connected. See our air compressor rental page for the fleet.
Hydraulics and Accumulators for Wind, Hydro and Biomass Plant
Wind turbines use hydraulics to pitch the blades and apply the brakes. HYDAC, the German hydraulics and filtration manufacturer, builds hydraulic power units for turbine pitch and brake systems, piston accumulators that hold stored energy for the pitch circuit, and gearbox oil systems with coolers and filters. As a HYDAC partner, we supply from that wind range and from the wider HYDAC portfolio:
- Bladder and piston accumulators
- Accumulator safety blocks
- Valves, manifolds and coolers
The HYDAC hydraulic and filtration range page lists what we carry.
An accumulator loses its gas pre-charge over time, and its bladder or piston seals wear. A pitch or governor circuit with a tired accumulator may still run normally, right up to the moment it needs that stored energy. We run one of the UK’s largest accumulator supply, repair and recertification services from our PSSR workshop, with a same-day removal, recertification and refit service.
Hydroelectric stations run hydraulic power units on turbine governors and intake gates. Biomass plants use hydraulics on fuel reception, conveying and ash handling. Our hydraulics division designs, builds, upgrades and maintains hydraulic systems, repairs pumps, valves and cylinders in our workshop and on site, and carries out oil sampling and condition monitoring. We work with Bosch Rexroth, Parker Hannifin, Eaton and Moog as well as HYDAC, so we aren’t tied to one manufacturer’s parts.
Filtration, Oil Care and Condition Monitoring
Particles and water in oil wear bearings, gears and servo valves. Turbine lube oil, hydraulic oil and wind gearbox oil all degrade the same way, gradually and then expensively.
We’ve been an authorised Pall industrial filtration distributor for over 20 years and are official distributors for 3M Cuno. Our filtration team:
- Supplies filter elements, water removal units, purifiers and offline filter trolleys
- Offers purifier hire
- Carries out condition monitoring, sampling and analysis
Process filtration covers cooling and process water and fuels. Details are on our industrial and process filtration page.
From the HYDAC range we add fluid care units that remove water and varnish from oil, plus AquaSensor and contamination sensors that report cleanliness to ISO 4406, the standard code for particle contamination in hydraulic fluid. With sensors on the circuit, a filter change or dewatering run goes into the next maintenance window instead of turning into an unplanned stop.
Hose, Metallic Hose and Valves for Steam and Fuel Lines
Our hose team is fully BFPA certified and makes up hydraulic and industrial hose assemblies in-house, using Eaton, Gates, Parker Hannifin, Manuli and Bridgestone hose, with pressure testing and certification. That includes fuel, gas, anti-static and ATEX-compliant hose. See our hose and fittings range.
Steam at temperature needs stainless steel metallic hose. Our metallic hose assemblies meet Class 1 of EN ISO 10380 and the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, with fire sleeve options and material and test certification on request.
On the pipework itself, we supply ball, butterfly, gate, globe and check valves, including globe valves for high-temperature boiler plant control and steam, water and condensate service. Process valves are an area we’re expanding with a dedicated team. Our process valves and actuators page lists the range.
Pressure Systems, Written Schemes and Inspection
Under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000, a pressure system must not be operated until a written scheme of examination, drawn up or certified by a competent person, is in place. HSE treats steam at any pressure, and compressed air above 0.5 bar, as relevant fluids. That brings air receivers, starting-air vessels and steam pipework on a generating site within scope.
We prepare written schemes of examination for compressed air systems, test breathing air against BS EN 12021 and carry out leak detection surveys. These checks exist because a failed pressure vessel or contaminated breathing air hurts people. We hold ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 accreditation.
Where Each Division Fits on a Generating Site
What Control Gear supplies and services depends on the area of the site.
Gas and Thermal Plant
Gas and Thermal Plant
Atlas Copco instrument air, starting air and purge air, with Class 0 compressors, dryers and filters.
Festo and IMI Norgren pneumatics operate dampers, valves and actuators across balance-of-plant equipment. As an official Festo partner and authorised IMI Norgren distributor, we supply and service valves, cylinders and air preparation units.
Wind Farms
Wind Farms
HYDAC pitch and brake hydraulics, accumulators, gearbox oil filtration and sensors.
One limit is worth being clear about. Work inside a turbine nacelle is a specialist activity with its own access, training and rescue arrangements, so on-turbine fitting normally stays with your turbine service provider. We supply the parts, recertify the accumulators, clean the oil and make up the hose assemblies their technicians fit.
Hydroelectric Stations
Hydroelectric Stations
Hydraulic power units, accumulators, oil sampling and condition monitoring.
Biomass Plants
Biomass Plants
Fuel and ash handling hydraulics, conveying air, Nederman dust extraction, steam hose and valves.
Biomass fuel brings a dust hazard. The HSE’s guidance on wood pellet fuels warns that pellet dust can cause a dust explosion when dispersed and ignited, and that bulk pellets can self-heat and give off carbon monoxide. As an authorised Nederman distributor, we supply combustible dust extraction, and our engineers test LEV systems at least once every 14 months as COSHH requires.
Outage Work
Outage Work
Hire compressors and dryers, accumulator recertification, bolting tools, hose assemblies, Written Schemes of Examination, leak detection and breathing air testing.
Outage work also means controlled bolting. As an authorised Atlas Copco Industrial Tools distributor, we supply bolt tensioning equipment, flange spreaders, nut splitters and torque tools, with repair, service and calibration.
Plan Your Next Outage With Control Gear
The work is growing. Renewable generation equalled 54% of electricity consumption in Wales in 2024, according to the Welsh Government’s statement on energy generation in Wales, which sets a target of 70% by 2030.
If you have an outage coming up, send us the compressor list, accumulator schedule and hose register for the units being worked on. Our Treforest team will line up hire air, recertification slots and replacement assemblies around your outage dates, so the fluid power work finishes when the rest of the outage does. Call 01443 843126 or use the contact form to arrange a site survey.
Get in touch
Contact Control Gear today
Tell us about your site and we’ll come back with the right service, audit or system recommendation.
- Visit us Heol Groeswen, Treforest Industrial Estate, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, CF37 5YF
- Call us 01443 843126
- Email us enquiries@control-gear.com
Mon–Fri · 09:00–17:00
24/7 emergency call-out available