“Giant aluminum spiders” may sound like something out of a nightmare or even the antagonist of an animated series. But for one Norwegian company, they could be the future of the wind energy industry.
WindSpider, a technology company focused on onshore and offshore wind turbines, has developed a new self-erecting crane system that could revolutionize the way turbines are built.
The WindSpider crane uses the wind turbine tower itself as part of the crane to install, maintain, repower, and decommission land-based and floating offshore wind turbines. This allows him to work with floating turbines in the field or at sea, giving him a lifting capacity of over 1,500 tons without height restrictions.
Unsurprisingly, the company has received a lot of interest from investors. It has already received funding from Innovasjon Norge, IKM, IK Group, Advanced Control, Breivik Group AS and DNV. Recently, with additional investment from Leirvik Group AS, he has also started building his first actual WindSpider unit.
“WindSpider is very pleased to partner with such a strong company like Leirvik.We are excited to partner with WindSpider’s entrepreneurial spirit and Leirvik as we begin the process of building our first WindSpider unit following an ongoing project. We believe we will have great strengths and synergies by combining our industrial experience in the development of control systems and simulators,” said Hans-Olav Heid, Chairman of the WindSpider Board of Management.
Similarly, Leirvik seemed very happy with the partnership.
“Leirvik is impressed with the WindSpider system and believes it will be a game changer for the growing global wind power market.Combined with Leirvik’s extensive experience and unique knowledge of large aluminum structures, “We see great synergies with WindSpider in the future, and we see great benefits in building the WindSpider system in aluminium,” said Helge Gjøsæter, CEO of Leirvik.
Norway has emerged as one of the world leaders in wind energy development and already boasts the world's largest offshore floating wind farm.
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