Nabrawind releases a system to install the complete wind turbine in winds conditions of up to 15 m/s
Nabrawind has announced the commercialization of Skylift, a new system that allows the installation of the nacelle, the rotor and the tubular wind turbine tower in wind conditions of up to 15 m/s, without the need to use cranes except for handling parts on the ground and with no tower height limit.
The system developed by Nabrawind combines the Self-erecting System, already validated and implemented for the Nabralift tower, with another of its products, the Bladerunner, a system that allows a craneless installation of rotors. Both systems can operate at wind speeds of up to 15 m/s.
How does Skylift work?
Skylift operation is simple and requires only minor modifications in lower flanges of the tubular tower. Like the Nabralift Self-erecting System, it also does not require anchoring to the ground and its foundations are simply supported on compacted soil.
The wind turbine foundation is installed first. Skylift is compatible with any of the traditional foundations used in the wind industry since it does not rely on them to operate.
The next step is the assembly of the self-erecting system. This is a simple and fast process. The entire system is transported in only 16 trucks (as opposed to the more than 40 that a main crawler crane usually requires) and its assembly at the first position of the wind farm is completed in six days.
Subsequently, the self-erecting system performs the installation of the nacelle and tower. In this order. The only auxiliary support cranes required during the process are of a tonnage equal to or less than 200 tons.
Once the nacelle and tower are installed, the BladeRunner system installs the rotor without the need for any crane.
The total installation time of a wind turbine using this system is one week, rotor included.
What advantages does Skylift bring?
The main advantage of Skylift lies in its ability to operate in high wind conditions, thus avoiding the hidden cost of not being able to install on high-wind days. This is a very relevant point in relation to green hydrogen megaprojects, which are being planned in areas of high average speeds and whose installation rate is limited precisely by those same winds that drastically shorten the installation window of turbines with conventional means.
Other advantages of the system are its ability to operate without cranes, its reduced logistics, the installation rate and its compatibility with the Nabralift tower or the Nabrabase foundation. Also developed by Nabrawind, it reduces concrete consumption by up to 80% with an installation rate of 1 week per wind turbine, drastically reducing both the construction time of the wind farm and CO2 emissions during the installation process.
Market entry
The reception of Skylift in the wind industry has been excellent and Nabrawind expects to close the first Skylift contracts during the first half of 2023.
Eneko Sola, Nabrawind’s CSO, said that “the market response to Skylift has far exceeded our expectations”. In this sense, Sola has indicated that “we had identified a clear market niche, such as green hydrogen or countries where there is a shortage of cranes or their cost is very high and where, consequently, Skylift can play a very relevant enabling role”.
In a similar way, Ion Arocena, CTO of Nabrawind, pointed out that Skylift, “although it is a new system on the market, the self-erecting System has already been successfully tested in conditions of up to 15 m/s, while for the BladeRunner we have just patented the complement with which to move from the 10 m/s of the current system to the 15 m/s required in this new market”.