Mammoet’s onshore wind farm lifting crane is now design-ready and is expected to enter the market in the second quarter of 2023, the company said.
The new WTA lifting system allows “theoretically infinite” hub heights and paves the way towards emissions-free turbine erection.
The WTA assembles wind turbine generators by attaching directly to the tower itself, using a series of clamps to self-assemble and then climb to each lift location.
It assembles tower sections, hubs and nacelles, and has a capacity of 150 tonnes.
Mammoet said the WTA can keep working when conventional crawler cranes cannot.
It operates in wind speeds up to 20 m/s, reducing downtime during construction and extending the build season.
The WTA has a “significantly reduced footprint” and is much smaller and lighter than any type of crawler crane, lowering the need for groundwork on site, the company said.
Pads can be smaller, and ground pressure requirements are minimised.
The system’s small size means quicker and more cost-effective mobilisation.
While a conventional crawler crane can require up to 50 truck loads to reach site, the WTA can be delivered in just nine.
With no boom laydown requirement, much fewer components and a lower total weight, the WTA is also faster from pad to pad – relocation time is reduced by approximately 50%, compared to using crawler cranes.
This can shave weeks off wind farm construction schedules, said Mammoet.