WELDED STEEL TOWERS

Click here to view large image A 6 MW REPower wind turbine at Thornton Bank, installed on a 120 meter welded steel tower. Photo! Wiki"edia#$ans $illewaert%

Welded steel towers are by far the most common choices for modern wind turbines. The material is strong and the pipe structure also makes it flexible. Steel is the preferred material and has been for many years. However, as the market comes to demand wind turbines over !! meters in height, the limitations of welded steel become apparent. "ne example is a growing demand for fatigue performance, which will increase steel thickness and hence the production cost. #lso, increasing height means that the tube diameter at the base must expand in order to strengthen the tower thereby making it more difficult or impossible to transport the towers on roads. The maximum tube diameter for transportation on $uropean roads is limited to %.& meters if there are bridges or other obstacles on the route. Mass production implies a factory The possibility of producing the tower in smaller modules to be assembled at the wind farm site is not optimal for welded steel towers, because the necessary welding 'uality is demanding. Welded steel towers need to be produced at a factory with expert competences. (urthermore, steel towers are costly to produce due to the volatile price of thick steel sheets and the cost of high 'uality welding of thick steel. #nd as towers grow taller they re'uire thicker steel, meaning deeper and longer welding which leads to increased production costs. "ne possible solution for lowering the cost is laser welding and mass production. )ut mass production

of towers cannot be carried out in situ where each wind farm is being erected. *t must happen in a factory and this leads back to the problem of transportation. This means that building steel towers beyond !! m in height is challenging for the time being.