Keystone Tower Systems and GE Renewable Energy have announced the installation of the first commercial spiral-welded wind tower on a 2.8MW GE turbine.
The installation is the result of a multi-year collaboration between Keystone and GE to design and produce spiral-welded towers for GE wind turbines. The tower was manufactured at Keystone’s factory in Pampa, Texas, located in the Texas Panhandle. The brownfield factory was built at an idled facility that formerly made drilling equipment for the oil and gas industry. When at full capacity the factory will be capable of producing approximately 1GW of towers per year. While this first factory is in a fixed location, Keystone is also developing mobile factories capable of building taller towers directly at the wind site.
Keystone is now ramping up production of spiral welded towers, with additional deliveries targeted for Q1 2023. The first product is an 89-meter tall spiral welded tower for the GE 2.8-127 turbine, designed to be used interchangeably with GE’s conventional 89m tall tower. The spiral tower has received a component certification from TÜV NORD for a 40-year lifetime. Keystone and GE have also collaborated on a tower design for the GE’s 3MW turbine platform and have signed a multi-year supply agreement for spiral towers from Keystone’s Pampa factory.
