The Finnish town of Oulainen some 40 kilometres east of the Gulf of Bothnia, is the site of an innovative wind farm project. Karahka wind farm is deploying the first Nordex in-house developed hybrid concrete and steel tower with a hub height of 168 metres.

Nordex said the tower has been developed based on the extensive expertise acquired by the Group in designing and producing concrete towers in Brazil, South Africa and Mexico. More than 2,500 units are already in operation. For the Nordics, it is a first-of-a-kind project. With its hub height of 168 metres, it is also the tallest Nordex group has installed so far. However, this year, the first installation of a 179-metre hybrid tower is planned in Germany.

Heavy transport specialist Silvasti has been tagged in to deliver a complete transportation solution to the project, including road transports, offloading and onloading setup on-site storage and JIT-deliveries from storage to hardstands. All in all, Silvasti’s team performed 1361 transports safely to their destination during the duration of the project. The transports were finished a week ahead of originally planned schedule.

The concrete elements of the wind turbine towers for the Karahka wind farm have been manufactured locally by Lujabetoni Oy.

The Karahka wind farm, being developed by the German VSB Group, comprises 25 n163/5.X wind turbines. Once completed it will have a total capacity of 147.5 MW.