Crane power for the climate revolution

• Liebherr crawler cranes are building wind farms to the south of Vienna
• An LR 11000 and LR 1750/2 from Felbermayr are erecting 30 wind turbines
• The speed delivered by V-Frame and VarioTray when short time frames are available is key to this process

Ten months ago, Austrian group Felbermayr started operations with its third Liebherr LR 11000. Since then, the crawler crane has been erecting Enercon wind turbines in Burgenland to the south-east of Vienna. Working with an LR 1750/2, the 1000 tonne crawler crane has erected a total of thirty wind turbines. Felbermayr will be sending another LR 11000 to the wind farms near the Austrian-Slovakian border in May to support the rest of the work. The erection work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022 at the latest.

Renewables are taking on an increasingly important role in supplying electricity within Europe. One of the main sectors in this respect is wind power. Austrian group Felbermayr and its cranes has been involved in this sector for decades and has developed into a major erection contractor for wind turbines, primarily in Austria and Eastern Europe. Felbermayr has 13 large cranes with lifting capacity classes of 600 tonnes and over, primarily working on the construction of these massive wind turbines. All these machines bear the Liebherr logo. Another modern LR 1800-1.0 crawler crane will roll out of the factory in Ehingen during May to expand Felbermayr’s impressive crane fleet.

One hot spot in the process of expanding wind energy is currently around half an hour’s drive to the south-east of Vienna, close to the Slovakian capital Bratislava. Two of Felbermayr’s large cranes in their blue corporate livery are currently operating here in Burgenland, the second main area of wind turbines in Austria alongside Lower Austria. The flagship of the crane fleet, an almost new LR 11000, and an LR 1750/2 equipped with the more powerful SX boom version have been erecting wind turbines with hub heights of up to 160 metres for several months. The cranes hoist three steel tower segments onto the waiting concrete towers and then install the gondola, generator, hub and rotor blades. The work is always carried out when the wind conditions allow. For the LR 1750/2, the more powerful SX boom increases the maximum permitted windspeed from nine to ten metres per second to ensure less downtime during the assembly work. At this windy level of the area known as the Vienna Basin, waiting times which can last for weeks, are a major challenge to the crane crews and erection teams.

To ensure that the ambitious schedule is met (all the crane work should be completed by the end of the year), a second 1000 tonne crawler crane from the Austrian group will arrive shortly to help. The two LR 11000 cranes will then be in action at the same time just a few kilometres apart.