Krøll into the wind

Tower crane manufacturer Krøll and its US distributor have acquired shares in Clean Wind Energy Tower, Inc., a company developing an innovative type of wind-powered electricity generation system.

USA-based CWET is developing what it claims as the largest downdraft tower in the world for electricity generation. The stockholding for Denmark-based Krøll and Tower Cranes of America in CEWET is one million shares each of common stock in CWET. Krøll has invested time in helping to develop a tower crane solution to build the huge concrete towers.

“We can confirm the constructability of the tower using novel combinations of known and proven methods. Krøll is an enthusiastic supporter of the Clean Wind Energy Tower project and wanted to become a stockholder in CWET,” said Niels Sorensen, Krøll technical sales manager.

“Krøll Cranes is a key component in the development and construction of the CWET Downdraft Tower, which could never have been built until the emergence of the modern crane technology used by Krøll. Our relationship with Krøll Cranes will enable the construction of large Downdraft Towers that operate with virtually no carbon footprint, fuel consumption, or residual waste, to generate abundant electricity and clean water economically,” said Ronald Pickett, CWET president and chief executive officer.

CEWET said that each downdraft tower could generate enough electricity for up to one million homes, using the guidelines set forth in the California Statewide Residential Appliance Saturation Study, 2004. The current tower design will generate 1,200 megawatt hours of saleable electricity to the grid, CEWET said.

Krøll is owned by Muhibbah Engineering in Malaysia, which also owns tower crane and offshore crane manufacturer Favelle Favco.