Know-how in demand

Miba alleviates the fear of power failure

Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer knows that developments need staying power.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Harald Dostal, Markus Wenzel, REUTERS, Krone KREATIV)

Miba engine bearings are not only in demand in the wind energy sector. The digitalization boom has brought the family-owned company from Laakirchen a boom in demand for products for diesel generators that are purchased by data centers. The digitalization trend and the growing importance of artificial intelligence are fuelling this.

"We are broadly positioned - in markets, applications and regions. Standing on several legs gives us stability," says F. Peter Mitterbauer. As head of Miba, which operates from Laakirchen, he is responsible for 7,600 employees and 29 production plants worldwide. What stood out when looking at the figures for the last financial year: Miba's engine bearings group continued to grow and also accounted for the largest share of sales in 2023/24.

Demand for engine bearings comes from various sectors - from wind power to emergency power generators for data centers.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Engine bearings are just as much in demand for engines and turbomachinery as they are for compressors and turbines: The parts are used in shipping, but also in trucks, aircraft and wind turbines. "We have tripled our turnover in the wind energy sector in the last two years," says Mitterbauer happily.

Rotor blades with a diameter of 400 meters
Gear manufacturers for wind turbines install bearings made by Miba. The dimensions of these systems are becoming increasingly gigantic. "The wind turbines that will be launched on the market in 2026 and 2027 have rotor blades with a diameter of 400 meters - it took ten years to develop the engine bearings required for this," says the entrepreneur, who is pleased that the company's commitment in this area is fully in line with the company's mission "Technologies for a clean planet".

"A totally booming industry"
Demand is also increasing for diesel gensets, which are available for emergency power supply in data processing and data centers in the event of a power failure. "This is currently a totally booming industry," says the Miba CEO. Due to artificial intelligence and the like, the importance of security systems is growing enormously once again.