Category: Towers & Foundations
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Dancing in the wind
I have discussed in other post the phenomenal growth of the dimensions of wind turbines in the last 2 decades. Bigger rotors, taller towers and more MW has been the industry trend year after year. There is some evidence that we are reaching the limit – blades of more than 50m length pose significant logistic challenges, while…
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Where have all the wind turbine gone? Foldable towers
In previous post some years ago I have described two alternative solution for the wind turbine tower that should help solving the problem of the huge cranes that are currently needed for the erection of the wind turbines components. One is the self-lifting precast tower developed by Esteyco, a Spanish engineering company that developed several…
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Second life: the destiny of turbine foundations after decommissioning
I have discussed in another article the challenges associated with the disposal of the blades when a wind farm is decommissioned or repowered. But what happen to the foundations? The destiny of a foundation will depends on local regulations, on the environmental requirements that are normally given with building permits and on the wish of…
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Good vibrations: wind induced resonance and turbines oscillations
Have you ever wondered why sometimes the wind turbines (and other similar tall structure) sometime vibrate? Under some conditions the wind blowing on the tower create vortices. These vortices appears regularly on both sides of the tower, creating low pressure zones first on one side and then in the other. For these reason the tower…
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A soft spot for BoP: the soft-spot foundation
The soft spot foundation is another interesting technical solution that appeared in the marked some years ago. Basically, it is similar to a standard shallow foundation with a certain amount of a foamy, soft material just in the middle below the anchor cage. I understand that different alternative materials can be used, being a standard…
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RUTE precast modular wind turbine foundation
Some days ago I have been contacted by Doug Krause, founder of RUTE – a green start up proposing an interesting solution for the wind turbine foundation. Taking inspiration from the technology used in bridge construction RUTE is proposing a system of post-tensioned beams connected to a central hub. Each beam has an anchor system…
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Wood towers for wind turbines
I always believed that wood towers for wind turbines were a solution possible only in small, domestic WTGs (somewhere around 10 kW to maybe maximum 100 kW). There are several example available, for instance this product of InnoVentum. Well, I was wrong: I see that some years ago (2012) a Vensys 77 1,5 MW turbine…
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Long term instrumented monitoring of wind turbine foundations cracks evolution
Some weeks ago I have discovered that, as I am currently enrolled as a university student (getting “slowly but steady” a second degree in Economics) I have full access to the Elsevier database. This is an enormous amount of information, including all the best scientific papers and technical articles published by industry journals. I am…
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Readers’ questions: may I use an anchor cage somewhere else?
I’ve just received this question from a reader. As I believe it’s an interesting topic I’ve decided to answer with a post instead of an email or in the comment section. “I’m custom broker and I have to classify under HS Code an anchor cage. I have consulted to Classification Office of Argentine Customs Service…
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Peikko rock adaptor foundation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtW-XWIAiM8&t=23s I’ve been asked by a reader of this website why there are no references to the various technical solutions available for wind turbines on rock. The truth is that I’m not a specialist on this topic. However I’m learning, due to the fact that I’m currently working at several projects in northern Europe where…