German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex has unveiled a hybrid concrete and steel tower with a hub height of 200 metres, the highest hub height in the world to date.
The Nordex Group announced late last week that the new hybrid tower would be available for the N175/6.X turbine.
As can be seen in the image below, courtesy of British renewable energy company Ripple, a wind turbine sits the actual ‘turbine’ atop a massive tower and measures the hub height from ‘hub’ at the centre of the three blades.
By increasing the height of the swept area of the blades, a wind turbine is able to access stronger and more consistent winds.
The Nordex N175/6.X turbine will therefore be able to elevate its rotor with a diameter of 175 metres into wind currents with much higher speeds and less turbulence, ensuring greater reliable energy generation even in locations with otherwise lower wind speeds.
Based on the design of the Nordex hybrid tower that has been developed in-house, two of the concrete and steel prototypes have already undergone testing this year. The two initial prototype hybrid towers measured 168 metres in height and were installed at the Karahka wind farm in Finland’s North Ostrobothnia region in December of 2023.
Successful testing of the two towers was completed over the following few months and opened the door for 23 more towers to be erected at the Karahka wind farm.
Each tower consists of convex concrete segments, up to 20 metres long, which are assembled and braced on site before the steel sections, nacelle and rotor are installed on top.
A 179-meter hybrid tower is also expected to be erected by the end of the year in Germany.
“The new in-house-developed hybrid tower is based on the well-known technology that Nordex has deployed for more than 15 years,” said Javier Alvarez Yoldi, a Nordex Group VP, speaking in March.
“More than 2,500 concrete tower units are already in successful operation. So, the hybrid tower is not a disruptive technical change, rather the natural evolution of a robust product that has been adapted and improved to reach higher hub heights.”
The Nordex Group will offer the N175/6.X turbine on tubular steel towers with hub heights of 112 metres, 142 metres, and 162 metres, as well as on hybrid towers with a hub height of 179 metres and in the future 200 metres.
