Finnish steelmaker Ruukki has signed an agreement to acquire the wind turbine tower design, erection and maintenance operations of the German company SeeBA Technik to strengthen its position in the growing renewable energy markets.
A company statement said that Ruukki aims to develop new types of energy-efficient wind turbine tower solutions and will apply SeeBA's patented solutions in its new lattice wind turbine towers, adding that SeeBA will in future focus on wind farm development and construction.
"Working together with SeeBA, we have developed a new type of wind turbine tower structure, which is a competitive alternative for tower solutions over 100 meters high. Wind velocity increases with height, which means higher towers are more efficient and also able to benefit from inland wind conditions. Consequently, we would expect the market share of higher wind turbine towers to grow," says Jyrki Keronen, Ruukki's senior vice president, energy products.