Siemens Gamesa has launched the GreenerTower, a wind turbine tower made of more sustainable steel.
The GreenerTower has already closed its first order, as RWE and Siemens Gamesa have agreed to introduce 36 of the units at the 1GW 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.
Towers consist of approximately 80% steel plates and the GreenerTower will ensure a CO2 reduction of at least 63% in the metal plates compared to conventional steel.
Siemens Gamesa’s new thorough qualification process will verify that only a maximum of 0.7 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions are permitted per ton of steel, while maintaining the same properties and quality of the metal.
“Wind power is one of the cornerstones of the green energy transition. With more than 600GW of new capacity to be installed worldwide in the next five years, it is important for the wind industry to reduce its carbon footprint,” said head of sustainability at Siemens Gamesa Maximilian Schnippering.
“Our project to address emissions with greener steel is one such solution. With the launch of the GreenerTower, Siemens Gamesa leads the efforts to further push wind circularity and net-zero emissions.”
Today, tower production accounts for more than one-third of all wind-turbine-related CO2 emissions.
If all structures installed by the company in one year were exchanged for GreenerTowers, it would be the same as removing more than 466,000 cars from the roads of Europe for a year.
The 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.
Chief executive of RWE Offshore Wind Sven Utermöhlen added: “Offshore Wind already has one of the lowest life-cycle carbon footprints of power generation technologies.
“At RWE we are fully committed to working towards circularity and net zero emissions. We are already testing the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades by Siemens Gamesa under real-life conditions.
“By piloting the GreenerTower at our Thor offshore wind farm, RWE is now once again taking the lead by helping to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of wind turbines.”