Suzlon commissions India’s tallest hybrid concrete tubular tower

Suzlon Group has announced the installation and commissioning of India’s tallest Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) with a Hybrid Concrete Tubular (HCT) Tower. The first prototype of S120 – 140m HCT has been commissioned at the Tirunelveli site in Tamil Nadu.

The 140m HCT tower is a combination of concrete base and foundation supporting a tubular steel tower that enables higher hub heights while avoiding exponential increase in the weight and costs of an all steel tubular towers. The new HCT tower will make low wind sites viable. The concrete tower was constructed onsite, using pre-cast in-situ ensuring control on quality and internally reinforced with high strength steel cables. The HCT tower is a perfect fit in the new competitive bidding regime, where large scale utility projects of 200-500 MW are being installed and commissioned. Constructing on site can be leveraged when 100 – 200 WTGs are being installed at one wind farm, as molds can be re-used and logistics costs are greatly reduced.

The new S120 capitalises on Suzlon’s 2.1MW platform and offers an increased rotor diameter of 120 metres. The S120 rotor incorporates fourth generation rotor aerodynamics and enhanced pitch control systems to reduce overall loads. This technology allows the increase from the S111 to S120 while maintaining the same nacelle.