A study on the design and material costs of tall wind turbine towers in South Africa
Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
South African Institution of Civil Engineering
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this project was to study the structural design and material costing of various designs of tall wind turbine towers and the associated foundations in a South African context.
Design guidelines are proposed for the design of tubular steel, concrete and concrete-steel
hybrid towers and foundations for hub heights of 80, 100 and 120 m. The results indicate that
concrete and hybrid towers become viable alternatives to the conventional steel towers at hub
heights equal to and above 100 m.
Three heights – 80 m, 100 m and 120 m – of each type of tower (steel, concrete and hybrid)
and their foundations were designed according to the relevant design standards. The designs
were verified using the Abaqus CAE finite element software (SIMULIA 2010). The material costs
of the designs were calculated for a South African environment, according to the increases in
material cost with increasing hub height.
In this paper, the required foundation sizes for the concrete and hybrid towers were found to
be smaller than for the steel towers. The material costs of the concrete and hybrid towers were
shown to be lower than for the steel towers, especially at hub heights above 100 m. An increase
in hub height caused an increase in energy generation of 3.52% and 6.28% for 80 m to 100 m,
and for 80 m to 120 m hub heights, respectively. It is postulated that the concrete and hybrid
towers become viable alternatives to the conventional steel towers at hub heights above 100 m.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
Description
CITATION: Way, A. C. & Van Zijl, G. P. A. G. 2015. A study on the design and material costs of tall wind turbine towers in South Africa. Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, 57(4)Art. #1231, doi:10.17159/2309-8775/2015/v57n4a6.
The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.org.za
Keywords
Wind turbines -- Towers, Steel -- Towers, Towers -- Construction and design -- Cost estimates
Citation
Way, A. C. & Van Zijl, G. P. A. G. 2015. A study on the design and material costs of tall wind turbine towers in South Africa. Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, 57(4)Art. #1231, doi:10.17159/2309-8775/2015/v57n4a6.