Enercon Stops Waiting for Cranes: a 1,000-Tonne Liebherr LR 11000 Joins Its Own Fleet

The wind turbine maker is using the crawler crane at the Kakerbeck wind farm and will rely on it for the 175-metre hub heights of its next turbine generation

In onshore wind, the crane is often the bottleneck. Turbines keep getting taller, the machines able to erect them are few, and every week of waiting on a site costs money. Enercon has decided to take part of that risk back in house.

The German wind turbine manufacturer has added a Liebherr LR 11000 crawler crane to its own fleet. With a maximum lifting capacity of 1,000 tonnes, the LR 11000 sits among the most powerful cranes in its class for the onshore wind market.

“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,” said Hendrik Peterburs, Vice President Enercon Global Logistics.

Built for tall towers

Enercon’s crane is equipped with the SL12 boom system, which Liebherr developed specifically for wind power work. It gives lifting heights of up to 190 metres, enough for turbines with large rotor diameters and high hub heights.

The crane was delivered in summer 2026 and is currently at the Kakerbeck wind farm in eastern Germany, where it is helping install several Enercon E-160 EP5 turbines. Its main job in the future will be the new E-175 EP5 E2: a 7.0 MW turbine with a 175-metre rotor and hub heights of up to 175 metres.

Moving within the wind farm

On a wind farm, lifting capacity is only half of the story. The other half is how fast a crane can be taken down, moved and put back up at the next turbine. Liebherr says it has continuously refined the assembly and dismantling processes of the LR 11000 so that the crane can be relocated quickly once a turbine is installed. The transport concept is designed for a width of 3.5 metres.

For Enercon, that is the practical benefit of ownership: a large crane that can move from one foundation to the next on its own schedule, rather than on the calendar of a crane rental company.

What comes next

With the E-175 EP5 E2 heading into the market, the LR 11000 is set to become a fixture of Enercon’s own installation work in Germany and beyond.