Konecranes Lift Trucks and expertise are
tailor-made for wind energy providers
January 22, 2015 (Markaryd, Sweden) – Global lifting solutions provider Konecranes supplies a range of lift trucks for every manufacturing need, including the challenging requirements of companies manufacturing wind energy components.
Wind turbines include a number of uniquely shaped, heavy components that are challenging to handle during manufacturing, delivery and erection. The tower sections, blades, nacelle and hub are extremely heavy, very large and prone to damage. Konecranes reach stackers and forklift trucks are optimized for the special material handling needs of the wind power industry.
“Transportation costs can account for 10 to 25 percent of the overall cost of a wind turbine,” says Phil Stevens, Konecranes North America region director, lift trucks. “Konecranes has the experience, know-how and product range to help wind energy manufacturers minimize transportation costs and damage.”
Wind turbine towers and offshore tripod turbine foundations are assembled from welded steel sections that can weigh anywhere from 30-100 tons. A single Konecranes forklift truck or reach stacker can lift 60-80 tons, while tandem lifts with two trucks can handle components from 120-160 tons.
A recently developed custom reach stacker variation available from Konecranes Lift Trucks Danish distributor has a top capacity of 110 tons and was designed specifically to handle wind power components. This is an important evolution for the wind turbine industry where one blade can weigh up to 105 tons. At 25-85 feet long, blades go through many stages of manufacture, from casting to painting to storage. The new, higher-capacity reach stacker has the ability to eliminate some tandem lifts.
Nacelle components, weighing 5-50 tons apiece, are also assembled using Konecranes reach stackers. Equipped with a crane hook, the Konecranes reach stacker can lift 50-80 tons up to 15 meters high, with a reach stroke of 7 meters, making it ideal for this process.
Konecranes also manufactures all of the special attachments required for each major aspect of turbine assembly. Attachments include magnet lifters, lifting beams, crane hooks and slings, which enables a turnkey delivery and one point of contact for the warranty.
“We have the right lift truck for every job in the wind energy industry,” says Stevens. “For example, a German customer who makes offshore tripods needed special forklift trucks with a low height profile and high load carrying capacity to handle the 30-ton concrete pads that the tripods are stored on.”
Konecranes supplied its special SMV 32-1200 B Ro-Ro forklift truck, which has a very low height profile of 2.95 meters, a load carrying capacity of up to 32 tons and excellent acceleration. The compact MV 32-1200 enables them to drive safely under the tripods to place the concrete pads with high precision.
