- The world's tallest wind turbine has been built in Germany
- It's designed to catch higher, stronger, more consistent winds
- An 'inside out' construction process was deployed to build up
There's a new milestone to report in the field of wind energy engineering: German company Gicon just completed construction on the tallest wind turbine in history, standing 365 meters (1,198 feet) tall near the town of Schipkau in Brandenburg.
According to the official press release (via Interesting Engineering), the structure is now the second tallest in Germany, as well as the tallest wind turbine in the world. The official commissioning of the towering electricity generator is set for November.
The reason for the extra height is simple: a higher altitude means stronger and more reliable winds. However, experts won't know if the additional power generation is worth the extra costs and engineering efforts until the new turbine has started operating.
This first super-tall turbine will have a rated output of 3.8 MW, with future builds expected to hit 7 MW. That's fairly modest by turbine standards, but it's expected that the new structure will hit peak capacity more often and more consistently, ultimately achieving twice the energy yield of a conventional wind turbine with the same rotor diameter.
A new approach to construction
"This is an overwhelming moment for our entire team," says Gircon CEO Prof. Dr. Jochen Großmann (via Google Translate). "What was long a challenging idea and then an equally challenging construction project now stands as a globally unique facility in Schipkau... we at Gicon are extremely proud of this."
The engineering team used a special 'inside out' approach to constructing the tower, using what's known as a strand jack system to lift the higher sections through the center of the base of the turbine before fixing them in place.
And there's another promising aspect to all this: Gicon says current wind farms can be retrofitted with the taller structures, meaning (in theory) more power from existing turbine plots without the need for more land development.
Once the world record turbine is running, we'll be able to see just how effective it is at harnessing the faster, more consistent winds at higher altitudes. If it proves a success, expect to see wind turbines getting a lot faster in the future.
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