It will be taller than the Eiffel Tower and it will harness the wind where a single wind turbine blade on land has never turned before. In Schipkau, a hundred kilometers south of Berlin, construction of the largest wind turbine in the world.
Each blade of that wind turbine will measure more than 100 meters long and will be mounted on a hub 300 meters from the ground, when most turbines are almost 200 meters from the ground. In total, the set could reach a height of about 400 meters.
Up to 40% more energy thanks to the height
The planned turbine is currently 364 meters high, making it the second tallest structure in Germany, four meters below the Berlin television tower. That is almost double that of the glass towers of Madrid and more than 30 meters than the emblematic French tower. It is simply immense.
Building the tallest wind turbine in the world is not due to excess vanity on the part of the Germans to snatch the record currently held by China, but rather a matter of efficiency. For a year, project customer Beventum and the Dresden company Gicon, which developed and is building the turbine, have investigated wind conditions using a 300-meter-high measuring tower.
They realized that 40% more wind energy is obtained at that height with the same blades as at lower heights. That greater wind energy equals twice the electricity. This wind turbine, located in one of the most powerful wind farms in Germany (89.1 MW), will have a power of 3.8 MW and will be able to supply electricity to around 4,500 homes.
“The wind not only has higher average values at this altitude, but also a broader distribution, which translates into a significantly higher number of full load hours for wind turbines at this altitude,” explained the founder of GiconJochen Großmann.
This is comparable to offshore turbines at sea, “but with operating conditions on land.” In this way “the Construction and maintenance costs are significantly lowerwhich has a positive impact on profitability.”
Projected height of the turbine in front of the Munich Olympic Tower and Cologne Cathedral. Image: Beventum
Unlike other wind energy projects, the population of Schipkau and the surrounding area did not oppose the construction plans. The Gicon Group has been in the area for years, having inaugurated the largest wind farm in Europe in Schipkau, and informed and involved residents in the new project from the beginning.
The new turbines do not require additional space, but will be built between existing wind turbines. “The towers are so tall that the rotors do not overlap so they do not take the wind away from each other,” explains Großmann. According to current plans, the first wind turbine should enter operational in summer 2025provided there are no delays in construction.
This new wind power plant is part of Germany’s desire to catch up on its lag in renewable energy by leaps and bounds. After taking advantage of Russian gas at ridiculous prices for decades, Germany now needs to quickly supply itself with clean, low-cost energy.
And he is achieving it. The renewable energies continued to gain ground in Germany in 2023. According to the Federal Network Agency, they represented the 56% of all electricity generated in 2023compared to 48.2% in 2022.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
