Kalmar helps CS Wind extend its reach

CS Wind Group is a leading manufacturer of wind tower sections with factories in Vietnam, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada and Europe. The CS Wind Vietnam factory in Vung Tau Province has been operational since 2003 and produces approximately 900 tower sections each year for clients in Asia, the South Pacific and North America.

Nguyen Minh Tri, assembly division manager for CS Wind Vietnam says the company’s objective is to become the world leader in providing wind towers for the onshore and offshore wind power industry.

“We have been constantly investing in productivity improvements to achieve this objective,” he explains. “The biggest challenge we currently face is that larger and heavier offshore wind turbine generators require larger and heavier wind tower sections, so we need to invest in new manufacturing facilities as well as specialised lifting equipment.”

In December 2019 CS Wind Vietnam ordered two Super Gloria reachstackers. The machines are now used at various facilities in Phu My EEZ (exclusive economic zone) as well as nearby seaports.

“Tower sections have increased in size, which creates demand for machines with large lifting capacity, increased lifting height and outreach strokes."

High demand for development of wind turbines

Mikael Andersson, Kalmar product manager observes that the development of wind turbines has accelerated considerably over the last decade.

“Tower sections have increased in size, which creates demand for machines with large lifting capacity, increased lifting height and outreach strokes,” he explains. “These machines must also be able to operate in confined spaces. Our solutions for this market have been developed and built as dedicated wind component handling machines,” he says.

The machines used by CS Wind Vietnam are the first of their kind to be produced at Kalmar’s factory in Shanghai. Normal container handling reachstackers lift around 45 tons - the Super Gloria reachstackers (DRG1000-82ZX) supplied to CS Wind Vietnam each have a lifting capacity of 100 tons as well as extra high lifting height of up to 13m (to the hook) and 14m to the lift eyes with outreach of up to 8m.

They are designed to handle extra-large foundations, towers and parts for deep sea tripods or floating foundations. Each machine can lift 100 tons at each end of a tower up to 12m high and can accommodate tower diameters of 5-10m and lengths from 20-50m.

Outstanding solution 

CS Wind Vietnam has added a number of options to these machines including the strongest available drive line; slow speed driving in first gear only (used for maximum load when the machines are being used in tandem); and cameras for improved overall visibility when handling these loads.

“The most important reasons for selecting Kalmar were its outstanding solution with advanced technology and specifications for loading/handling of tower sections in tandem lift without support jacks, the robust front axle and the flexibility to handle future larger dimension of tower sections,” says Minh Tri.

“They are always here to help and support us whatever our needs in terms of parts availability or technical know-how.”

“We must also mention the professionalism and dedication of Kalmar’s local dealer Unico Vina on site,” he adds. Unico Vina has been the exclusive supplier of Kalmar equipment in Vietnam since 1995 and employs 160 staff across sales, service, parts and administration.

“They have consulted with us on every detail and answered all our questions to come up with a suitable solution,” says Minh Tri. “They are always here to help and support us whatever our needs in terms of parts availability or technical know-how.”

These are the first Kalmar machines to operate in the wind power industry in Vietnam and Andersson says the company is very hopeful of securing more business in Asian markets.