Nordex installs multi-megawatt turbine on 134 metre tubular steel tower for the first time

Prior to this the manufacturer had always installed its turbines with hub heights in excess of 120 metres in continental Europe on hybrid towers - a combination of concrete and tubular steel towers. The reason for this is that for very high hub heights the diameter of a conventional lower tubular steel segment would be more than 4.30 metres, which would make it impossible to transport them under bridges. The diameter of the lower segment of the new tower is exactly 4.30 metres, which solved the bottleneck problem.

The aim of the new tower concept is to extend the know-how and experience with respect to high towers as an alternative to the use of hybrid towers. The results of the latest tests conducted already confirm that the tubular steel tower is perfectly suitable, also given the 20-year service life of the turbine. From the middle of next year this tower technology will initially be available for international markets for the recently launched N131/3600 and N131/3900 wind turbine generators. A further factor is that the new tower option once again reduces the cost of energy for the Nordex turbine fleet.

The site of the project is located in North-Rhine Westphalia, in the Grevenbroich wind test field operated by windtest grevenbroich gmbh. For Nordex this test field has a historic importance. This was where, in the year 2000, the company installed and commissioned the world's first multi-megawatt machine, the N80/2500.

GP JOULE founder and CEO Ove Petersen is also pleased with the commissioning of the turbine: "We are very happy that GP JOULE was able to successfully complete the planning and construction of the 3 MW turbine on the Grevenbroich wind test field. This is now the second collaboration with Nordex in the context of planning, installing and operating a new type of turbine on a wind test field. Of course, we are particularly pleased that GP JOULE will now also take charge of managing operation of the turbine."

The first light-wind turbine from Nordex, the N131/3600, was installed by GP JOULE on the Windtestfeld Nord in the Südermarsch, near Husum. "The fact that Nordex has again placed its trust in GP JOULE for the Grevenbroich project shows that the expertise of our company in planning and implementing complex problems is perceived and respected in the market - also by prestigious industrial companies such as Nordex," Petersen continues.