AIRCRANE | New Concrete-Towers Assembly system for taller Wind Turbines.

Summary
Skyscrapers building technology marked a turning point in the construction sector: Due to the great heights of those buildings, the only way to build them is with a crane which rises in the manner the skyscraper does. Inspired by that idea, we developed the AIRCRANE SYSTEM. The wind energy sector currently has a main objective: decrease the Levelized Cost of produced Energy (LCoE), in order to be comparable to other energy sources in the coming years. The strategies to decrease are mainly concentrated in two action groups: Reduce the cost of wind turbines and capture as much energy as possible. Regarding the second group, manufacturers are convinced the best way is to create more powerful turbines (up to 8 MW) and install the nacelle and rotor at greater heights, where the wind blows harder and there are less turbulences. The market requires taller towers, supporting heavier loads on top as well. The only alternative, due to steel tower's limitations, is to make at least the lower part with concrete. But the concrete weak point is its weight, which requires the use of largest crawlers and cranes: very expensive machines and with a limited number of units worldwide. The AIRCRANE SYSTEM is a brand new technology that serves to assembly concrete wind-turbine towers, with theoretically infinite height: the Aircrane system is based on a external self-climbing crane which rises as the construction of the tower does, once its completed and built, the system will lift the nacelle and blades. There are two main advantages: (1) Radically reduce current construction costs in the tallest concrete towers, and additionally (2) open a new market-niche, being able to construct towers with no height limits. Successful project completion represents a significant business opportunity for our SME, with expected REVENUES of € 32,5/58,5 million within 5/7 years and the creation of 98/167 Direct Jobs, and 176/307 Indirect jobs
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/804858
Start date: 01-03-2018
End date: 31-10-2020
Total budget - Public funding: 2 125 125,00 Euro - 1 487 587,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Skyscrapers building technology marked a turning point in the construction sector: Due to the great heights of those buildings, the only way to build them is with a crane which rises in the manner the skyscraper does. Inspired by that idea, we developed the AIRCRANE SYSTEM. The wind energy sector currently has a main objective: decrease the Levelized Cost of produced Energy (LCoE), in order to be comparable to other energy sources in the coming years. The strategies to decrease are mainly concentrated in two action groups: Reduce the cost of wind turbines and capture as much energy as possible. Regarding the second group, manufacturers are convinced the best way is to create more powerful turbines (up to 8 MW) and install the nacelle and rotor at greater heights, where the wind blows harder and there are less turbulences. The market requires taller towers, supporting heavier loads on top as well. The only alternative, due to steel tower's limitations, is to make at least the lower part with concrete. But the concrete weak point is its weight, which requires the use of largest crawlers and cranes: very expensive machines and with a limited number of units worldwide. The AIRCRANE SYSTEM is a brand new technology that serves to assembly concrete wind-turbine towers, with theoretically infinite height: the Aircrane system is based on a external self-climbing crane which rises as the construction of the tower does, once its completed and built, the system will lift the nacelle and blades. There are two main advantages: (1) Radically reduce current construction costs in the tallest concrete towers, and additionally (2) open a new market-niche, being able to construct towers with no height limits. Successful project completion represents a significant business opportunity for our SME, with expected REVENUES of € 32,5/58,5 million within 5/7 years and the creation of 98/167 Direct Jobs, and 176/307 Indirect jobs

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

SMEInst-09-2016-2017

Update Date

27-10-2022
Geographical location(s)
Structured mapping
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EU-Programme-Call
Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.2. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP
H2020-EU.2.1. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
H2020-EU.2.1.1. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
H2020-EU.2.1.1.0. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - ICT - Cross-cutting calls
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
H2020-EU.2.3. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
H2020-EU.2.3.1. Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
H2020-EU.3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES
H2020-EU.3.3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy
H2020-EU.3.3.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-09-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon and efficient energy system