Swedish startup Modvion has built the world’s tallest wooden wind turbine tower, and it’s now sending power to 400 homes in Sweden.
The 2-megawatt (MW) wooden wind turbine, sited outside Skara, northeast of Gothenburg, was built for the electric utility Varberg Energi, and it’s just started providing power to Sweden’s grid.
The world’s tallest wooden wind turbine has a tower that’s 344 feet (105 meters) tall. And if you include the tip of the highest blade, it’s 492 feet (150 meters) tall.
The tower’s thick walls have 144 layers of laminated veneer lumber. Each layer consists of 3 millimeters of sustainable spruce. The tower was built in seven sections with 28 stacked modules held together by steel fittings glued into place.
The wood is strong but lighter than steel, and Modvion says one of its main selling points is that the…