Up-tower cranes

Wind turbines run year in and year out and need regular maintenance. Thus, there are heavy components that need to be exchanged, such as the gearbox, bearings or the generator. A completely new concept was devised for a Canadian maintenance company to exchange these heavy components. According to the traditional method, this requires a very heavy crane. This involves high costs and a high CO2 footprint. Especially in North America, it can be a major logistical operation because the maintenance jobs take place at a very long distance from each other.

With the new concept, several smaller cranes are placed on top of the wind turbine. These cranes can exchange all heavy components from above. The advantage is that the cranes are many times more compact and lighter to transport. There are also many advantages operationally and in terms of safety. The load hangs much more stable and is less sensitive to wind influences. This also increases the operational framework of maintenance.

We are proud to be named as the ‘inventor’ of this patented method, the cranes have been detailed and put into production by Kenz-Figee.

For questions about this solution, please contact Liftwerx.