Flange and wind energy system

A flange comprising:

• a neck including an outer side, wherein the neck is configured to be connected to a flange plate;
• a flange plate including inwardly facing connecting portions for holding a connecting device;
• an inner side and an outer side of the flange, wherein the inner side of the flange is located at a radially different location than the outer side of the flange;
• and
• a ring-shaped bulge on the outer side of the flange defining a second diameter different from a first diameter of the outer side of the neck,
• wherein a merge point of the bulge and the neck comprises a flange fillet.

A wind energy system, comprising:

• a tower configured to be connected to a nacelle of the wind energy system;
• a yaw bearing on top of the tower;
• a flange including a longitudinal axis, wherein the flange connects the yaw bearing and the tower, the flange comprising:
• a neck extending substantially along a longitudinal axis of the flange defining a first direction;
• a flange plate connected to the neck and including a connecting portion configured to hold a connecting device at a connecting side, the flange plate further including a non-connecting side being at a radially different location than the connecting side;
• the flange including a first plane defining a first level of the neck, a second plane defining a second level where the flange plate and the neck are connected, and a third plane defining a third level of the flange plate, wherein the first plane, the second plane and the third plane extend substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the flange;
• a ring-shaped bulge on the non-connecting side;
• wherein the bulge extends from a fourth level, which is located between the first plane and the second plane, to the third plane;
• a merge point of the bulge and the neck comprises a flange fillet, and
• an outer diameter of the bulge is substantially constant along the non-connecting side.