The construction of steel towers for wind turbines poses significant challenges for industry: the weld seams of a single modern wind tower add up to a length of approximately 700 meters on average and require around 100 hours of work. As a result, the production capacity of German plants is currently limited to around 520 steel towers per year – half of what the German government's expansion targets provide for.

WeldNova, a spin-off from the Wind@BAM competence center of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), has now found a smart solution to the problem: the scientists at WeldNova have developed an electromagnet system that accompanies the welding process, thus enabling the use of the more efficient laser hybrid welding process. This makes it possible to reduce the welding time to just under twelve hours – an efficiency increase by a factor of 8. At the same time, only 900 kilowatt hours of energy are required instead of the previous 4000 kilowatt hours. The new process is expected to secure important competitive advantages for the German wind industry and can also be used in the construction of hydrogen pipelines, liquefied gas containers or bridges.

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