In Sweden, a wood technology company called Modvion is undertaking an extraordinary project – the construction of a 105-meter wind turbine tower made entirely of wood.
This tower will be the company’s first commercial installation and is being commissioned by the energy company Varberg Energi, located in the municipality of Skara, Sweden.
Otto Lundman, CEO of Modvion says, “This is the start of a new green industry. By using Nordic raw materials and Swedish technology, we can enable climate-neutral wind power for a growing global market.”
Wooden innovations
Modvion’s 105-meter tall wind turbine tower will be made entirely of wood. The tower will host a 2-megawatt turbine produced by Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer and a shareholder in Modvion since 2021. When accounting for the blades, the total height of the wind turbine will reach 150 meters.
This will be the first time that Modvion’s tower technology will be paired with Vestas’ turbine. The completion of the wind turbine is expected before the end of 2023.
The tower consists of wooden modules made from laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which are currently being manufactured at Modvion’s factory in Gothenburg, inaugurated last year.
At the construction site, these modules are assembled into seven sections, with each section comprising four modules. Construction work started earlier this year, commencing with the laying of the foundation, and now the assembly of the sections is underway.
The tower is the component that usually emits the most carbon. Switching to wooden wind turbine towers can dramatically reduce carbon emissions during manufacturing, while the material itself stores carbon, making it a carbon-negative component.
The laminated wood’s superior strength-to-weight ratio allows for cost-effective and tall towers that are easily transported on standard roads due to the modular design.
Otto Lundman says, “Wood enables building higher towers at a lower cost, which makes wind power more efficient since winds are stronger and more stable higher up. That gives you more electricity from each permit to build wind turbines.”
Brief about Modvion
Founded in 2015 by Otto Lundman and David Olivegren, Modvion claims to accelerate the shift to sustainable energy and materials by constructing wind turbine towers out of laminated wood – nature’s own carbon fibre.
The Swedish wood technology company uses laminated wood for large-scale applications, reducing emissions by replacing steel and concrete.
Modvion’s patented module system enables cost-effective wind turbine towers, supported by the Swedish Energy Agency, Västra Götaland region, and EU program Horizon 2020 EIC Accelerator.
