The world’s first telescopic wind turbine was installed

The world’s first telescopic wind turbine is installed in the coastal waters of Gran Canaria in Spain. The turbine uses a self-drifting gravity-driven concrete base and a self-elevating telescopic tower, which can be fully assembled at the port and towed to the installation site. The turbine of the company Siemens-Gamesa with a capacity of 5 MW served as a prototype.

This technology is the centerpiece of the H2020 ELICAN project, implemented by the Spanish engineering company Esteyco. The project is 70% funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program. The idea of ​​the project was to install the first offshore wind turbine without the participation of expensive heavy-lift vessels. All components were assembled on land and the turbine was towed to the installation site, which proves to be more cost effective. The lifting of the sections was carried out by the British construction and installation company ALE, which controlled the installation process and the operation of the equipment from a special control ship via wireless communication.