Vestas V112-3.0 MW turbines in Macarthur, Australia. (Credit: Vestas)Vestas has launched the Large Diameter Steel Tower, a solution to increase wind turbine tower height for 3 MW turbines to over 140 m (≈460 ft). The new solution boosts annual energy production on low wind sites by up to 8%.
The Large Diameter Steel Tower (LDST)—a solution patented by Vestas—enables taller wind turbine towers to take advantage of stronger wind conditions at higher hub heights for the V117-3.3 MW and V126-3.3 MW turbines, increasing annual energy production and therefore revenue for customers.
On a typical site with a mean wind speed of 6.5m/s, the LDST will increase annual energy production by up to 8% at a hub height of 137 meter for the V126-3.3 MW compared to a hub height of 117 meter for the conventional steel tower.
Increasing the wind turbine tower heights increases the force exerted by the wind on the base of the tower. Typically, this requires the use of thicker steel plates. The LDST instead increases the diameter of the bottom section, increasing the strength while using little extra steel, reducing production costs, and ensuring lower cost of energy.
“Vestas’ product development strategy is to continue to optimise our technology in order to lower the cost of energy for our customers,” explains Chief Technology Officer Anders Vedel. “The LDST is the most cost efficient solution in the industry to meet the demand for increased tower height for the 3 MW turbines.”
The increased diameter of the wind turbine tower presents a challenge in terms of transportation. Vestas has solved this by delivering the bottom tower section in three lengthways segments. These can easily and cost effectively be transported on a flatbed truck and reassembled on site using vertical flanges to ensure strength.
A prototype for the V112-3.3 MW was delivered in Germany in 2013. Vestas has already received orders for over fifty turbines using the LDST technology.
