Overcoming the Problems of Size and High Wind Speeds
Wind farm sites have the annoying habit of being located in places with frequent high-speed winds! Also, the trend in the wind industry is to create bigger and taller wind turbine generators in order to produce more megawatt-hours. Unfortunately, construction and maintenance activities with the need for ever larger cranes to lift bigger loads to higher heights are not particularly compatible with high-speed winds.
By Emmanuel Garcia de la Pena, Managing Director, KoalaLifter, Spain
Because of the lack of availability of the huge cranes needed to reach the heights required and withstand high wind speeds, the wind industry is facing a significant roadblock to its development in many regions. And even where these cranes are available, their high rental and mobilisation costs make many wind farm business cases unfeasible.
