Timber Hybrid Towers for Wind Turbines
The demand for taller towers for wind turbines has been growing steadily for years. As tower heights increase so do the requirements for structural design and material efficiency. Conventional tower construction methods are increasingly reaching their technical and economic limits. Could timber hybrid towers be a suitable alternative to meet the increasing static requirements while enabling more efficient use of materials?
By Werner Mussnig and Roman Braun, Hasslacher Green Tower, Austria
There is increasing demand for taller wind turbine towers. Wind speed – and thus energy yield – increases with hub height. However, as many of the windiest coastal sites are already developed, new turbines are increasingly built inland where wind speeds are lower. In these locations, taller towers are particularly important to achieve higher energy yields.
