Australian iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest is testing the boundaries of what is possible in his pursuit of green energy and reaching “real zero” by 2030, but none may be as visually striking as the new-look turbines he is proposing for what would be Australia’s biggest wind project.
As Renew Economy reported late last week, Forrest’s Fortescue Metals has unveiled details of a proposed 2.1 gigawatt wind project to help power its giant Pilbara iron ore mines, where the company plans to eliminate all burning of fossil fuels for land transport and mining activities by the end of the decade.
The East Pilbara Generation Hub proposal – filed with the state’s Environmental Protection Authority for approval on Friday – envisages 200 turbines near Marble Bar, and its Iron Bridge magenetite ore mine, which suggests that each turbine will need to be at least 10 megawatts in capacity. The biggest turbine in Australia is currently 7 MW.
Fortescue is looking to use a new turbine design developed by Nabrawind, a Spanish company in which Fortescue first invested in 2023, and made a follow up investment in 2024.
Nabrawind says it has developed a “self lifting” turbine design that is efficient because it means lower costs, easier logistics, and less emissions. It says they are quicker to build, require no heavy cranes, and use much less concrete.
Rather than a single tower, the “Nabralift” turbines identified by Forrest in its wind project application use a lattice style structure up to a certain height that can be supported by a three-column structure, which requires smaller footings and less concrete.
“Nabrawind Self Erecting Tower (Nabralift) is a cutting-edge wind turbine tower technology that breaks all the barriers that are restraining the growth of the wind turbines hub height,” the company says on its website.
It says the self-erection system (SES) allows the wind turbine, including the tower, nacelle and rotors, to be installed without using large cranes, regardless of the final hub-height.
In the case of Fortescue’s proposed wind project in the Pilbara, the turbines will have a hub height of around 220 metres, and a blade tip height of 290 metres, which would be the tallest in Australia, and just 33 metres short of the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast, which is Australia’s tallest building.
Nabralift turbine towers have not yet been widely deployed, although the company says an initial 160 metre tall prototype was installed in at its home base in Navarra, Spain, in 2018.
It says the first commercial turbines were deployed in Morocco (144m, in 2022) and in France (102m, in 2023), with plans for projects surpassing 190m in height in Australia, Namibia and China.
In a media statement issued last October, Nabrawind announced the release of Nabralift 3.0, which it said could support wind turbines with a capacity of up to 8 MW.
It flagged at the time that it was working on the next generation of its technology, Nabralift 4.0, which it said then would be available in 2026, and would be designed to reach up to 230m (hub height) in onshore wind turbines of 10 MW. That, presumably, is what Fortescue is banking on.
“Nabrawind is a critical partner in our fight to increase renewable energy adoption and decarbonize our energy usage in our Western Australian iron ore operations,” Mark Hutchinson, the head of Fortescue Energy, said in announcing the second capital investment in the company in June last year.
The CEO of Nabrawind, Eneko Sanz, said Fortescue’s investment would enable Nabrawind to accelerate the commercialisation of its technology, with Fortescue as a major customer.”
“We are doubly satisfied: on one hand, our partners ensure profitability, as this operation also involves a partial divestment; on the other hand, we welcome a dream partner who shares our vision for the green transition,” he said.
Fortescue hopes to receive receive environmental approvals for the Pilbara wind hub next year and begin construction in late 2026, and start generation in mid 2029. Battery storage will be built at five different locations across the project.
It is also building a series of large solar farms to help reach its goal of “real zero” emissions at its giant iron ore mines in the Pilbara, which will include wind, solar and storage for its power and transport needs, and fully electric haul trucks, bulldozers, excavators and other mining equipment.
