The distinctive bright red siding of a construction crane in the United States is synonymous with the powerful cranes built by the Manitowoc company based in Wisconsin. These are also frequently the type of massive cranes used to erect today’s modern wind turbines. Fitting, then, that the first and only U.S. manufacturer exclusively dedicated to the mass production of wind turbines’ largest support components, would base their new operation in a former Manitowoc shipyard.
Manitowoc, Wisconsin – May 17, 2004 [SolarAccess.com] Betting on a future upsurge in demand for wind power, within the next few months, a new company called Tower Tech Systems Inc. (TTSI) will achieve production capabilities for the automated mass-production of wind tower support structures, turbine assemblies and monopiles. Turbine, (Nacelle) assembly production capabilities are already in place and all brand new manufacturing equipment is expected to be onsite by the end of this June. Wind Power Support Structures Companies that manufacture the turbines tend get all the attention in the wind power industry but the underlying support structures are an integral part of the package. While nearly everything associated with modern, utility-scale wind turbines is large, the wind power industry still a relatively small one in the United States. General Electric now has its own wind power division, but most of the industry’s companies and production capabilities are based in Europe. This is especially the case with the highly complex turbine units. However, the more simple, but massive support structures like towers are prohibitively expensive to transport around the world and are often made closer to the final project site. Despite all the bulk inherent with a completed wind turbine, the wind power industry as a whole is a relatively small one in the U.S. compared the traditional power industries. There simply is not very much heavy industry on the manufacturing side that caters specifically to its needs. Specialized Production According to TTSI, all the current manufacturing facilities for support structures are derived from unrelated, but equally large product manufacturing facilities like those for pressure vessels, tanks or pipelines. The company says this doesn’t allow for the benefits of an optimized system specifically tailored and engineered for the exclusive production of wind towers and other large support structures. TTSI will be relying on the weldment fabrication experience of RBA, Inc., also of Manitowoc, to provide the production workforce necessary to produce the wind tower support structures, turbine assemblies, and monopiles. To give you an idea of the bulk of some of these support structures, the largest units, the monopiles that become the lower base of an offshore wind tower, are between 150 and 180 feet long, and weight as much as 450 tons each. The massive, one-piece units are shipped offshore to a location and progressively flooded until they are positioned vertically and are ready to be driven into the sea-bed.