On March 4, 2024, the inauguration of the 'Wind of Change', a wind turbine on a wooden, modular turbine tower, took place in Sweden . At 103.3 meters, 105 meters including the base, it is currently the tallest wooden wind turbine tower in the world. Vestas' 2 MW generator now supplies electricity to the Swedish grid, supplying approximately 400 households with power.
144 layers of pine wood
The 30 meter tower is made up of 144 layers of pine wood that are glued together to create the thick walls. The thin layers are glued together in a factory and pressed together to create the curved sections. Those pieces are then transported to the site, where they are glued together and stacked on top of each other.
Because the parts are modular and stackable, the wooden wind towers can be transported on public roads without any problems.
Advantages
According to Modvion, production in wood has three major advantages:
- Wood has a higher specific strength, which makes a lighter construction possible.
- Tall steel towers require additional reinforcement to support their own weight - which wooden towers do not.
- Modular steel towers require a large number of bolts that need to be inspected regularly, while our modular wooden towers are joined together with adhesive.
Modvion , the company behind the Wind of Change, hopes to be able to make many more wooden wind turbine towers in the future and sees replacing steel and concrete with wood wherever possible as an intelligent way to make wind energy almost free of carbon emissions.
Otto Lundman, CEO of Modvion AB, sees choosing wood as a major breakthrough that paves the way for the next generation of wind turbines:
“Laminated timber is stronger than steel for the same weight and by building in modules the wind turbines can be taller. By building in timber we also reduce carbon dioxide emissions in production and instead store carbon dioxide in the design ."
Next steps
The Wind of Change was recently transferred to energy company Varberg Energi. The installation in Skara is the first commercial project for Modvion. The company believes that wooden towers will be a big part of the next generation of wind energy. The company wants to increase production to meet the global need for tall wind turbine towers. (According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), demand amounts to 30,000 units per year. In addition, the plan is to apply the technology to the largest onshore turbines of 6+MW.
Knowing more? Here are Modvion's Q&A.
Photo: inside a wooden windmill tower from the Swedish company Modvion. Photographer: Paul Wennerholm / Modvion
Bekijk al het nieuws