The world's tallest wind measurement mast begins operation in Jüchen (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Next to the Garzweiler mine in North Rhine-Westphalia, GICON^® will explore the further potential of high wind.

Jüchen, [30.10.2024] The world's tallest wind measurement mast is 300 metres high and weighs around 70 tonnes. From today, a slender, transparent structure will stand at the Jüchen A44n wind farm and, at a world-record height, will determine the wind potential for at least twelve months. Equipped with 46 measuring instruments, it will measure not only wind speed but also temperatures, air pressure and humidity. The various sensors are mounted at 25-metre intervals to ensure reliable readings across the entire height profile up to the top at 300 metres. Before Jüchen, the mast was already in operation in Klettwitz in Brandenburg.

Commissioning and contribution to the energy transition

For GICON^® CEO Prof. Jochen Großmann, the mast plays a central role in the development of high altitude wind turbines and the establishment of regenerative hybrid power plants.

‘With its extensive measurements, the wind measurement mast forms the basis for the development of high-altitude wind turbines, with which we want to make a substantial contribution to the energy transition. With a hub height of 300 metres, we expect to more than double the yield of current turbines due to better wind conditions. The location near an open-cast mine was deliberately chosen because there is great potential here. Many of the areas will be closed down in the coming years and will have to be reused for other purposes. The fact that there are already wind turbines in many areas means that we can use existing grid connections and do not have to develop any new areas,’ he said, explaining his vision and the advantages of the new location. In addition, the atmospheric and wind conditions in North Rhine-Westphalia are different from those in Brandenburg. However, since both locations are former open-cast mining areas, the terrain conditions can be compared, according to Prof. Großmann.

On 30 October 2024, the commissioning took place in the presence of representatives from politics and business. In addition to the representatives of beventum and GICON^®, the Mayor of Jüchen, Harald Zillikens, Ansgar Heveling, Member of the German Bundestag, and Gregor Küpper, Head of the Environment Department of the Rhine District of Neuss, emphasised the importance of future-oriented technologies for the region and the implementation of corresponding research projects.

The mast, with its 99 individual elements, was realised by the engineering service provider GICON^® on behalf of beventum GmbH from a single source, from planning to commissioning. beventum GmbH is a subsidiary of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation SPRIND and is financed by funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The construction was carried out from May 2024 by specialists and industrial climbers from the company Ge:Net GmbH.

In addition, two LiDAR systems calibrated to 300 metres will take measurements from the ground using the measuring mast. The LiDAR system uses radar waves to perform optical distance and speed measurements. With a calibrated LiDAR system, wind measurements at high altitudes can be carried out much more easily in the future, reducing the need for wind measurement masts or possibly eliminating them altogether.

The locational advantage of wind energy

Making the best possible use of wind energy not only contributes to greater climate protection, but is also a symbol of the successful transformation of the economy. The more and the cheaper renewable energy is available, the more attractive a location becomes for companies with electricity-intensive production. This strengthens the surrounding regions and creates highly skilled jobs. Despite the loss of coal as an energy source, there are still great economic opportunities for the affected areas.

This is precisely where SPRIND and its subsidiary beventum GmbH come in. Their aim is to tackle two challenges at once: to enable wind turbines wherever they are accepted and make sense, and to develop high-altitude wind so that electricity can be generated at the desired location throughout Germany at an acceptable price. After all, electricity from wind energy is already the most important renewable energy source in Germany.

Promising measurement results from Brandenburg

‘The measurements in Brandenburg show that winds at a height of 300 metres blow harder and more consistently than at lower heights. If these are confirmed in Jüchen, we have good reason to believe that in the future we will be able to generate wind energy according to demand and acceptance,’ explains Dr. Chaumet, innovation manager at SPRIND and managing director of beventum GmbH. To this end, projects such as the 365-metre-high GICON^® high-altitude wind turbine (hub height 300 metres) can be integrated as a second level into both existing and future wind farms, which greatly reduces the amount of space required. Even regions with lower wind speeds could be supplied with green electricity throughout by high-altitude wind turbines.

There is also good news for nature conservation, because the batcorders attached to the mast, which convert the ultrasonic sounds of bats into audible sounds, have confirmed in previous measurements that the presence of the animals decreases significantly with increasing altitude.

On the basis of the data obtained, construction of the first GICON^® high-altitude wind turbine began in September 2020 in the immediate vicinity of the previous location of the wind measurement mast in Brandenburg. GICON^® has been working on this concept of a telescopic lattice tower for ten years now. In addition to the construction of up to 1,000 GICON^® high-altitude wind turbines by 2030, Prof. Jochen Großmann already has further plans in the pipeline. ‘High-altitude wind turbines can not only supplement existing wind farms, but can also be expanded into complete ecological hybrid power plants – so-called base-load capable green power plants – in conjunction with solar and storage facilities. Former brown coal mining areas, such as those in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, can be upgraded and become the basis for the most modern industrial settlements.’