First Craneless Installation of a Wind Turbine in Namibia is An Important Milestone That May Lower Future Installation Costs

      Fortescue subsidiary Nabrawind successfully erected a utility-scale turbine without the use of a giant crane in a wind industry first in Namibia. This makes it possible to erect turbines in windier conditions since operating giant cranes is limited to low wind conditions, and they must wait for the wind to die down before they can be used. The giant cranes are also difficult to transport to remote areas. Once the approach is perfected, this could lower costs for utility-scale wind farms. Nabrawind installed its first Goldwind GW165/6000 turbine at Namibia's InnoVent Diaz wind farm using what it calls its Total Self-Erecting System (SES) and Skylift technology. The crane in the pictures below is not being used. It is only there if needed. It was not needed.

     An article in The Cool Down notes the advantages of the company’s craneless turbine deployment system:

“The system can function in unstable winds of around 15 meters per second, or about 33 miles per hour, with gusts reaching 20 m/s, or about 45 mph. Conventional cranes, by comparison, may be limited to roughly six to eight m/s (13 to about 18 mph) during some key installation steps.”

“The company also said the technology can work with multiple existing turbine and tower types, rather than just a single custom design.”

“If the method proves repeatable, it could help solve one of the biggest logistical challenges in wind development: transporting enormous equipment to remote sites and then waiting for perfect weather conditions to use it.”

“Less downtime and less heavy transport could translate into lower project costs, shorter construction timelines, and more dependable deployment.”

     According to Electrek:

“The InnoVent Diaz wind farm will eventually feature seven Goldwind GW165/6000 wind turbines deployed with Nabrawind’s Total SES and Skylift solutions, enabling the company to demonstrate both the repeatability of the processes and their ability to handle complex installation procedures a broader range of environmental conditions.”

     The company’s goal is to decrease the installation time to a net cycle time of one week by the time they get to the seventh one.

     Below, a commenter further explains how the alternative erection system works:    

References:

 

Wind turbine installed without giant crane in breakthrough test. Brooklyn Smith. The Cool Down. June 4, 2026. Wind turbine installed without giant crane in breakthrough test

Fortescue Nabrawind deploy first crane-less wind turbine in Africa. Jo Borrás. Electrek. May 30, 2026. Fortescue Nabrawind deploy first crane-less wind turbine in Africa