Viatron takes on Poland wind expansion

Poland's Viatron is keeping its Grove GTK1100 busy working on the country's growing number of wind energy plants. The company, which specializes in wind turbine installation, acquired the Grove GTK1100 in 2011 and since then has had the unit working round the clock.

The GTK1100 can assemble a 2 MW turbine on a 105 m tower in a single day. Since joining the Viatron fleet in July 2011, the crane has worked on seven wind farms in northern and central Poland. At each project, the crane has erected between two and five wind turbines.

The majority of wind turbine installations have been the 105 m Vestas 2 MW unit. These are among the tallest in the industry and comprise of four mast sections, weighing between 42 and 70 tonnes, and a nacelle that weighs 71 tonnes, without the hub.

According to Igor Pawela, CEO of Viatron, the GTK's small footprint and the fact that it can lift without counterweights, make it ideal for this type of project. It is quick to rig, added Pawela, making it possible to complete installation projects in a day.

Poland's expansion program for wind power has a demanding schedule, and the GTK is performing lifts during the day and moving to the next wind tower foundation at night.