The tower mass and cost grow rapidly as a result of the transportation constraint on the base diameter of the tower. Installation of increasingly heavier components on taller towers requires costly special-purpose cranes. Although there are possible advantages in terms of LCOE with increases in turbine size and operating height, other constraints such as transportation restrictions and lack of crane availability are already limiting the technology growth.Corporate Energies helps its clients identify best possible options for the transportation and installation via analyzing complete road systems and transportation roots.
One Stop Shop
Historic trends indicate that the mass and, therefore, price of a turbine increases as the cube of the rotor diameter increases. Moreover, increase in the dimension of rotor diameter and hub height leads to higher expenses associated with transportation and installation. Larger turbine components require special transportation and support vehicles and can only be transported through certain highways. The relation between tower transportation cost, turbine nameplate rating, and tower height is depicted in the figure below.
