Wind power is environmentally friendly — but building the towers isn't. Could swapping wood for of steel be the answer? A Swedish company says yes, and they’ve already built their first commercial wind turbine.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Wind power is environmentally friendly, but building the towers isn't.
00:11The materials have a big carbon footprint, especially when the towers are made of steel,
00:17as nearly all of them are nowadays.
00:19That's why the Swedish company Matvian has turned to a traditional construction material
00:25It's built out of four modules, which are assembled into a tube section.
00:32You stack them on top of each other, and in the end, you get a tall tower.
00:38For Matvian, the sky's the limit.
00:41We're going to build up to 214 meters.
00:44The first commercial turbine has already been erected in Skara, northeast of Gothenburg.
00:49It's not quite that tall yet, just 105 meters.
00:53The tower is made of layered laminated wood that's bent into shape.
00:58Gluing wood together is much stronger than bolting or screwing it.
01:02Matvian says the wood is farmed sustainably.
01:05The first commercial tower is equipped with a two-megawatt turbine.
01:09Unlike steel, wood can also withstand the harsh conditions of offshore operation.
01:15Water and steel don't go together. Wood and water work great together.
01:19We protect our towers with a coating on the outside so they can withstand the climate at sea.
01:24In 2021, the Danish company Vestas invested in the Matvian startup.
01:30They also built the turbine in Skara.
01:33If the innovative wood turbine towers catch on, it could help make wind power even greener.