This renewables giant is going to use wooden wind turbine towers

Swedish startup Modvion is going to supply power giant RWE Renewables with wooden wind turbine towers for future onshore wind farms. 

RWE Renewables Sweden has signed a letter of intent to “verify” Modvion’s wooden wind turbine tower technology in order to use them once the towers are commercialized. 

Modvion erected the first wooden wind turbine tower on an island outside Gothenburg, Sweden, in May 2020, and it will install its first commercial wind turbine this year. The commercial turbine will have a 2 megawatt (MW) wind turbine and, including the blades, it will be 150 meters (492 feet) tall. Modvion also has plans for a 6-MW installation.

RWE wants to use Modvion’s wooden turbine towers because it asserts in a statement that laminated wood is stronger than steel proportionate to its weight, which means lighter towers and less need for expensive reinforcements. Wooden towers can also be used with other steel turbine components.

The towers are modular, which makes transporting them easier. Building towers using wood reduces emissions compared to materials such as steel and concrete, and “growing trees bind carbon dioxide, which is stored in the wood products that act as a carbon sink.”

Lars Borisson, head of onshore origination & development Nordics at RWE Renewables, said:

We see that modular towers in laminated wood have significant market potential and can contribute to lowering the cost of new renewable electricity production by replacing steel and concrete with environmentally friendly and climate-smart wood. RWE will be assessing Modvion’s wooden tower for potential use in future wind farms.

RWE is aiming to achieve net zero by 2040.

Read more: Wind turbines made entirely of wood are coming

Photo: RWE/Modvion

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