Enercon adds 1,000-tonne Liebherr LR 11000 to its erection fleet

The LR 11000 was handed over in the summer and went straight to work at Kakerbeck, where it is installing a series of Enercon E-160 EP5 turbines. Rather than a one-off purchase, the crane marks a strategic move by the German turbine builder to reduce its dependence on the rental market for the largest class of erection cranes.

“By investing in modern installation equipment, we are increasing our independence from external crane availability and enhancing our flexibility as a provider of solutions for the renewable energy ecosystem.”

— Hendrik Peterburs, Vice President Global Logistics, Enercon

Rigged for tall towers

Enercon’s LR 11000 is configured with Liebherr’s SL12 boom system, a combination developed specifically for wind power work. In this guise the crawler crane reaches lifting heights of up to 190 metres, putting the nacelles and rotors of the current generation of large onshore turbines comfortably within reach.

That headroom will soon be needed. Once the Kakerbeck campaign is complete, the crane’s main occupation will be erecting Enercon’s new E-175 EP5 E2 turbine, which combines a 175-metre rotor diameter and a rated output of 7.0 MW with hub heights of up to 175 metres.

Quick between pads

On a wind farm, the time a large crawler crane spends being dismantled, moved and re-rigged between turbine positions weighs heavily on the programme. Liebherr has progressively refined the LR 11000’s assembly and dismantling procedures so the machine can be broken down and relocated to the next pad quickly once a turbine is topped out.

Transport logistics were part of the same calculation. The LR 11000 is designed around an economical transport concept with a maximum component width of 3.5 metres, keeping the convoy between sites manageable on public roads.

A crowded class

With a maximum lifting capacity of 1,000 tonnes, the LR 11000 sits among the most capable crawler cranes routinely deployed in the onshore wind market, where hub heights and component weights continue to climb with every turbine generation. For Enercon, owning that capacity means installation slots for its latest machines are no longer hostage to a tight European heavy-crane rental market.