Spanish outfit Nabrawind Technologies has installed a 160-metre tall steel wind turbine tower at Eslava in northern Spain.
The prototype called Nabralift was installed in under two weeks and is the tallest onshore steel tower in the world, the company said.
The tower has been designed to be built using hydraulic jacks, enabling elevation by adding small frame modules at ground level, it added.
Installation costs are cut because Nabralift does not need specialist transportation and assembly equipment required for conventional towers, Nabrawind said.
The prototype will be tested after installation to demonstrate 25 years of operating life through fatigue load tests, it said.
Nabrawind Technologies Nabralift programme manager Ion Arocena said: “We are anticipating 15% cost reduction versus conventional approaches like tubular steel or hybrid tower, and by next year we aim to produce and install up to seven towers between 135 metre and 200 metres height.”
InnoEnergy, a European innovation support group for sustainable energy has invested €3m in Nabrawind Technologies and is providing further funding and commercial outreach.