Blade replacement with Liebherr

Grúas Ibarrondo replaced three rotor blades on an SG 4.X wind turbine, each measuring 64.5 metres in length and weighing in at 24 tonnes, with new rotor blades with a larger span, a length of 71.5 metres and weighing 22.5 tonnes each. The job at the Experimental Cener-Alaiz wind farm in Navarra was carried out using two Liebherr mobile cranes, the 9-axle LTM 1750-9.1 and the first 8-axle LTM 1650-8.1 in Spain. The Liebherr mobile cranes worked in tandem using a hook height of 130 metres. One of the major challenges for this job was to reach the specified height whilst also ensuring that the required lifting capacity could be delivered at that height. Furthermore, the cranes had to be controlled very sensitively as they had to install the turbine blades in tandem. “Liebherr mobile cranes are ideal for wind energy projects of this type as they are manoeuvrable and easy to position. They also deliver the required height and lifting capacity,” explains Mikel Ibarrondo, General Manager of Grúas Ibarrondo. Grúas Ibarrondo ’s fleet consists of 66 cranes, 41 of which are Liebherr cranes, including almost every model in the LTM mobile crane series as well as a 750 tonne LG 1750 lattice boom crane.