Max Bögl Wind (www.mbrenewables.com) has announced the construction of the world’s tallest turbine in Gaildorf, near Stuttgart (Germany).

With a hub height of 178m and a total height from ground to blade tip of 264.5m. the new turbine is part of a four-turbine wind-farm pilot project.

All four turbines are equipped with customised 3.4MW GE generators.

The project is being used to trial an energy storage concept called ‘water battery’; this is designed to allow power
to be generated at times when the turbines would normally be throttled back or stopped.

Their foundations double as water reservoirs for a pumped-storage hydro power station situated in the valley below.

The water battery can store ‘surplus power’ and release it when necessary.

It acts as a short-term storage facility and helps to maintain grid stability while guaranteeing a continuous uninterrupted supply of power.

The pumped-storage plant can switch from pumping water uphill to producing electrical power within 30sec.