Siemens Gamesa has announced the GreenerTower, a wind turbine tower made of more sustainable steel. Towers consist of approximately 80% steel plates. The new GreenerTower will ensure a CO2 reduction of at least 63% in the tower steel plates compared to conventional steel.
Currently, on average, 1.91 tons of CO2 are emitted during the manufacturing process for every ton of steel. Siemens Gamesa’s qualification process will verify that only a maximum of 0.7 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions are permitted per ton of steel. Today, tower production accounts for more than one-third of all wind-turbine-related CO2 emissions.
This new CO2-reduced tower will be available as an option for both onshore and offshore wind turbines for projects to be installed from 2024 onward. RWE and Siemens Gamesa have agreed to introduce 36 GreenerTowers at the 1,000-MW Thor offshore wind power project in Denmark. In total, 72 SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines are planned to be installed starting in 2026.
The German steel manufacturing company Salzgitter, with its heavy plate mill Ilsenburger Grobblech, is the first supplier to be qualified. The process to produce greener steel entails increased use of scrap steel, less energy-intensive steel manufacturing processes, and an increased use of renewable energy sources. As one of the measures to decarbonize steel production, for example, the electric arc furnace will be fed with green electricity from offshore wind projects.
