Our Sites

Energy Department to provide $2 million to support tall wind turbine tower manufacturing

The Energy Department, Washington, D.C., has announced it will give $2 million to two organizations for developing tall wind turbines to harness the stronger winds that occur at higher heights. These projects will support the design and manufacturing techniques to produce towers that are nearly 400 ft. tall. In comparison, wind turbines installed in 2013 had an average height of 260 ft.

Keystone Towers, Boston, will implement an on-site spiral welding system that will enable turbine towers to be produced directly at or near the installation site, freeing projects of transportation constraints that often limit turbine height. Adapted from an in-field welding process used by the pipe manufacturing industry, the spiral welding technique can be scaled up to produce large-diameter steel towers that Keystone reports will be 40 percent lighter than standard turbine towers, which could lower the cost of energy by 10 percent.

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, will develop a hexagonal-shaped tower that combines high-strength concrete with prestressed steel reinforcements to assemble individual tower modules and wall segments that can be transported and joined together on-site. The modular design helps reduce the cost of producing thicker towers capable of supporting turbines at increased heights.