Renewable energy giant Siemens Gamesa today announced the launch of GreenerTower, a sustainable steel tower that reduces a wind turbine’s carbon footprint by 20%.

Wind turbine towers made of sustainable steel

Wind turbine towers are made up of 80% steel plates. Siemens Gamesa says its new GreenerTower will ensure a CO2 reduction of at least 63% in the tower steel plates compared to conventional steel production.

The new GreenerTower is available for both onshore and offshore wind turbines for installation from 2024 onward, and it’s already closed its first order. Starting in 2026, German energy company RWE is going to install 36 GreenerTowers at the 1,000-megawatt Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark, which will make up half the SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines installed there.  

In September 2021, Siemens Gamesa launched what it claims is the world’s first recyclable offshore wind turbine blade, and RWE is also testing those. Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of RWE Offshore Wind, said:

We are already testing the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades by Siemens Gamesa under real-life conditions. By piloting the GreenerTower at our Thor offshore wind farm, RWE is now once again taking the lead by helping to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of wind turbines.

How the more sustainable steel is made

German steel manufacturing company Salzgitter AG, with its heavy plate mill Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH, is the first supplier to be qualified and third-party certified.

Steel is the largest single source of CO2 equivalent emissions for wind turbines. Producing greener steel entails increased use of scrap steel, less energy-intensive steel manufacturing processes, and an increased use of renewable energy sources. As one of the measures to decarbonize steel production, for example, the electric arc furnace will be fed with clean electricity from offshore wind farms.

On average, there are 1.91 tons of CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process for every ton of steel. By setting a threshold of 0.7 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per ton of steel, Siemens Gamesa significantly reduces the footprint of the largest component in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions.

Wind turbine tower production currently accounts for more than one-third of all wind-turbine-related emissions. If Siemens Gamesa installed only GreenerTowers in a year, it would be the same as removing more than 466,000 cars from European roads for a year.

Read more: Siemens Gamesa claims world’s first recyclable offshore wind turbine blade

Photo: Siemens Gamesa

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