World record wind turbine in Schipkau: completion postponed due to weather

The world's tallest wind turbine is being built in Schipkau in Lusatia - but it's not quite finished yet. The Gicon company postponed the declaration of a world record again on Sunday. The inner tower of the high-altitude wind tower has so far been raised to an intermediate height of 250 meters, Gicon said. The total height is 315 meters, said spokesman Martin Burmeister. This is already the tallest wind turbine. Completion was postponed due to weather.

The company announced that the wind turbine's hub height of 300 meters would only be reached in the coming days. The tower, including the rotor blades, will be a total of 365 meters high. Then the developers of the tower want to set a world record. According to the Federal Wind Energy Association, this is the largest wind turbine in the world. For comparison: the Berlin television tower is 368 meters high.

According to the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and the construction company Max Bögl, the world's tallest series wind turbine is currently in Winnberg in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria. The project has a hub height of 199 meters and a total height of 285 meters.

Turbine is pushed up

The tower in Schipkau is supposed to be even higher. There the turbine is lifted into the final position with an inner tower using a telescopic mechanism. For example, the weather in the past few days with small gusts meant that the lift was slower than planned, said spokesman Burmeister.

The final work began on Friday. The giant was originally supposed to be finished a week ago on Sunday. However, the schedule for the final construction phase was delayed due to strong winds.

Federal agency project

The high-altitude wind tower in the coal region will be able to produce electricity for up to 7,500 households in the future. The wind turbine consists of a type of lattice tower and a steel structure and is considered an innovation.

The Gicon Group, headquartered in Dresden, is building the colossus on behalf of the Federal Agency for Leap Innovations, which was founded in 2019.