German turbine manufacturer Enercon is terminating cooperation with an unnamed concrete tower producer in the city of Magdeburg mainly because of low order volume and logistical disadvantages.
Enercon said the collaboration with a recently commissioned concrete tower production partner will be concluded at the end of the second quarter of 2020.
The company added that it will continue to use concrete towers and will intensify its relationship with WEC Turmbau Emden, a long-standing production partner.
WEC Turmbau Emden offers cost-effective location advantages as it is situated close to the Netherlands and rest of the Benelux region, which are important markets for the turbine maker.
A large number of the concrete towers to be delivered in the coming months will be built for these markets, Enercon said.
The WEC plant also has a direct sea and inland port connections, Enercon said.
“The short distance and the possibility of delivering the tower segments produced by ship make a decisive contribution to reducing the logistics costs of the concrete tower,” it said.
The company added that the decision is part of its realignment strategy in light of the slump in the German onshore wind market, as well as an initiated technology change to steel towers that has seen demand for concrete units decrease.
It added that increased global competition for wind turbine suppliers has put an bigger focus on generation costs and so it is “essential for Enercon to have the components for its wind turbines produced at the best possible costs on the market”.