ALE has assisted with the transport and erection of Nabrawind Technologies’ self-erecting wind turbine tower prototype, Nabralift, in Navarra, Spain.


ALE utilised 12 axle lines of SPMTs to transport the 450-tonne tower to the site, while three of the transport engineering company's strand jacks were employed to raise the tower to a height of 160 m.

The Nabralift self-erecting system has been designed to reduce the need for crane operations during wind turbine installation projects. 

According to Nabrawind Technologies, the full-scale prototype was installed in under two weeks. The prototype will now be tested to demonstrate 25 years of operating life through fatigue load tests.

Once testing is complete, Nabrawind Technologies plans to install up to seven more towers in 2019, extending up to 200 m in height.

ALE project engineer David Arias Blanco commented: "By providing this customised solution, our client can now have the means of developing onshore wind farms in the most cost and time effective method ever thought possible.

"This is game-changing technology, specifically for those wind farms located on difficult-to-reach islands or mountainous sites. From our findings, we are already developing engineering processes to fulfil the requirements of future large-scale installations with an aim to develop two towers a week.”
 

 


www.ale-heavylift.com

www.nabrawind.com