Comansa lifting system installs highest wind tower in Africa

Tower crane manufacturer Comansa has joined forces with Navarra, Spain-based companies Nabrawind and Tetrace, to create Navassy, a joint-venture which has designed and manufactured the first automated lifting system for Nabralift 2.0 wind towers.

Comansa said it is contributing its industrial knowledge and experience in lifting technology to the wind power sector through the manufacture of the Nabralift tower self-raising system.

Navassy, which is a joint venture formed by Nabrawind, Tetrace and Comansa was created in November 2020 for the manufacturing and operating of the Nabralift automated lifting towers system.

Comansa was commissioned to manufacture the new automated lifting system. The system underwent preliminary testing in their installations in Huarte (Navarra), Spain, before being relocated to Oualidia in Morocco. The Nabralift tower fitted with a Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbine and an already installed rotor was assembled in the wind farm which is being constructed by the French developer InnoVent and it is now the highest wind tower in Africa, with a hub height of 144 metres.

Comansa said that the tower installation demonstrated the advantages of the system over the standard cranes typically used for installing large wind turbines. These, it said, include being able to assemble the tower in winds of up to 15 metres per second and being able to transport the lifting system using just 14 standard lorries.

Once this first unit is complete, according to the Nabralift order backlog, Navassi will manufacture eight of these automated lifting systems over the next six years. Comasa will be responsible for manufacturing the next automated lifting systems at their facilities in Spain and China.