In the spring of 2022, XCMG XGC15000A, a 1,000-tonne crawler crane set a new world record after completing its first single-arm wind power hoisting operation at a height of 172+12 meters for the Jinjiaozhou wind power farm in Qingdao, China.
Weighing in at 118 tons the 4.5MW wind power turbine was hoisted to a height of 170 meters with the diameter of the impeller reaching 156 metres. It adopts the world-leading prestressed fatigue-resistant framed steel pipe wind power tower that greatly increases the height of the wind turbine when compared with the common 120-140 meters flexible tower in the industry, which better utilizes wind resources and increases power generation efficiency. However, the higher installation height posed greater challenges for the crawler crane.
The flat and open project site usually experiences strong wind greater than level 5, and the fully prepared construction team quickly completed the operation during a short “wind-free” time window, thanks to the powerful and stable performance of the XGC15000A.
“The tower height at this wind farm will reach 180 metres or even above 200 metres, and facing these challenges, we found that XCMG had already taken everything into consideration. We believe XCMG can fully meet our needs in the future,” noted Di Caijin, who was responsible for the on-site hoisting operation.
The successful installation makes the XGC15000A the world’s first wind power crawler crane to achieve a hoisting height of 170 metres. China has pledged to reach a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and according to the latest analysis from Wood Mackenzie, the country is expected to reach 700GW of cumulative connected wind capacity by 2030 and annual wind and photovoltaic installed capacity needs will reach 100- to 200 million kilowatts, which calls for more wind power projects to be developed at lower costs.
In February, XCMG delivered China’s largest tonnage wind power reach stacker, XCS70S, which was co-developed and customized by XCMG and CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Wind Power Business Unit. With a rated load of 70 tonnes, the product has a much broader range of applications and was designed for the hoisting operations of large-scale wind turbines and equipment. It is equipped with exclusive spreaders that increase hoisting and handling efficiency three-fold.
