Gasgoo Munich- Motion technology company Schaeffler signed an investment agreement with Nanjing Jiangning Science Park on September 9 to establish an industrial bearing test center. The facility will focus on testing and validating bearings for wind power and other industrial applications, strengthening Schaeffler's local service capabilities and support for customers in China.Image source: Schaeffler The planned center will be located in the third-phase industrial zone of Nanjing Jiangning Science Park, about 500 meters from Schaeffler's existing Nanjing manufacturing base. Covering 30 mu, or 20,000 square meters, the facility will house a test rig for wind turbine main-shaft systems rated at 25 MW and above. Operations are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2028.Designed for testing and validating large wind turbine main-shaft systems, the rig will offer three-degree-of-freedom loading and simulate customers' drivetrain configurations and operating loads. It will support type testing and application validation, including extreme-load, robustness and accelerated-durability tests, enabling performance verification and reliability assessment of wind turbine main bearings.Image source: Schaeffler The platform will be designed to accommodate different power ratings, operating scenarios and future wind power products, alongside the current requirements of Chinese customers. Once completed, it is expected to expand Schaeffler's technical service capabilities in the wind power sector, helping local customers shorten development cycles, improve product quality and validate reliability before deployment.Schaeffler began investing in manufacturing operations in China in 1995 and now operates six research and development centers and 15 plants in the country. The company established a presence in the Nanjing Jiangning High-tech Zone, later renamed Nanjing Jiangning Science Park, in 2011. Its Nanjing plant began operations in 2014 as one of Schaeffler's key industrial production bases in China.Schaeffler's Nanjing site now comprises four production buildings and a central warehouse, with a total area of 260,000 square meters. Opened in 2021, its fourth production building, dedicated to large wind turbine main-shaft bearings, can supply more than 10,000 sets of wind turbine bearings to the Chinese market annually. According to Schaeffler, the site is the group's largest wind power bearing production base in the Asia-Pacific region.