Tuesday, December 16, 2025
The Swedish wood technology pioneer, Modvion, has received a massive endorsement from the European Union, securing a grant of up to €39.1 million from the highly selective Innovation Fund. This substantial financing marks a pivotal moment for the company, enabling it to transition from pilot success to large-scale series production of its patented wooden wind turbine towers.
The funding is specifically allocated to establish manufacturing capabilities that will meet the burgeoning demand from the European wind industry. This initiative aligns directly with the EU’s core objectives of increasing renewable energy infrastructure and accelerating the development of innovative, low-carbon technologies.
In a highly competitive application round that attracted 359 proposals, Modvion was selected as one of only 61 projects awarded a share of the €2.9 billion total fund. The collective impact of these selected projects is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an impressive 221 million tonnes over the next decade.
Modvion’s innovation directly challenges the status quo in wind energy infrastructure, which has historically relied on steel and concrete—materials notorious for their high carbon footprint, contributing significantly to global industrial CO₂ emissions.
“The Innovation Fund grant will enable Modvion to scale production capacity to meet the demand from the European wind industry,” said Maria-Lina Hedlund, CEO at Modvion. “Our towers enable taller wind turbines to increase the efficiency and profitability of wind energy, all while replacing hard-to-abate steel and concrete.”
The towers are constructed using advanced Engineered Wood, specifically Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL). This choice of material offers several critical advantages over traditional steel:
Carbon negativity: The wood itself stores carbon dioxide absorbed by the tree during its growth. Lifecycle analyses indicate that the wooden tower stores more carbon than is emitted during its production, transport, and installation, resulting in a carbon-negative component. This radically reduces the overall carbon emissions of a wind power plant by approximately 30%.
Superior strength-to-weight Ratio: LVL has a better strength-to-weight ratio than the types of steel typically used for wind turbine towers. This lightness reduces the overall material mass required and alleviates the need for the expensive base reinforcements that become necessary as steel towers increase in height.
Fire resistance: Counterintuitively, the dense, solid nature of the engineered wood used in the tower makes it highly resistant to fire. The surface would char at a predictable rate, allowing the inner structure to maintain its integrity for longer than steel, which rapidly softens at high temperatures.
The need for taller wind turbines is purely economic and environmental. Wind speeds are stronger and more consistent at greater heights. As the hub height of a wind turbine doubles, the power generated can quadruple P ∝ V3, where V = wind speed. The ability to build taller, therefore, translates directly into higher energy yields and a lower levelised cost of energy (LCOE).
Modvion’s patented modular design is the key technological enabler for this height increase. Conventional steel towers are transported in massive cylindrical sections, often exceeding road transport width limits, which prevents them from being delivered to sites, particularly in logistically challenging areas.
The Modvion solution dismantles this problem by segmenting the tower into smaller, curved modules that are easily transported on standard trucks via normal roads. Once on-site, these LVL modules are efficiently assembled and stacked into large cylinders—a process that allows for hub heights of up to 200 metres, designed for powerful turbines of 6 megawatts (MW) and above. This is a critical factor for boosting the performance of onshore wind energy across Europe.
Modvion’s project aligns precisely with the EU Innovation Fund’s strategic mandate: to support breakthrough cleantech manufacturing and reinforce Europe’s resilience. By establishing a robust, scalable industrial supply chain for wooden wind turbine towers, the project enhances European self-sufficiency in key energy transition components, reducing reliance on global, often carbon-intensive, supply chains.
The company has already proven the commercial viability of its technology. In partnership with Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer and an investor in Modvion, the company successfully erected its first commercial wooden tower in Skara, Sweden, in 2024. The 105-meter-tall structure, supporting a multi-MW Vestas turbine, has been operating successfully for over 15,000 hours, demonstrating the technology’s readiness for the market.
“Increasing renewable energy infrastructure and production is strategically vital for the EU. Modvion contributes to that build out while bringing together two strong European industries, wood and wind power,” added Ms. Hedlund.
Modvion is currently in the Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP) phase with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), with the final agreement expected to be signed by the end of Q1 2026. This monumental funding signifies the wood technology industry’s arrival as a core pillar of the sustainable energy transition, offering a high-strength, carbon-storing alternative to conventional industrial materials.
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Tags: carbon-negative construction, engineered wood, Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), low-carbon technology, wood technology, wooden wind turbine
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