The world's tallest wind turbine just got built in Germany

Gicon's wind turbine has reached its maximum height (Image credit: Gicon) The world's tallest wind turbine has been built in GermanyIt's designed to catch higher, stronger, more consistent windsAn 'inside out' construction process was deployed to build upThere's a new milestone to report in the field of wind energy engineering: German company Gicon just completed construction on the tallest wind turbine in history, standing 365 meters (1,198 feet) tall near the town of Schipkau in Brandenburg.According to the official press release (via Interesting Engineering), the structure is now the second tallest in Germany, as well as the tallest wind turbine in the world. The official commissioning of the towering electricity generator is set for November.The reason for the extra height is simple: a higher altitude means stronger and more reliable winds. However, experts won't know if the additional power generation is worth the extra costs and engineering efforts until the new turbine has started operating.This first super-tall turbine will have a rated output of 3.8 MW, with future builds expected to hit 7 MW. That's fairly modest by turbine standards, but it's expected that the new structure will hit peak capacity more often and more consistently, ultimately achieving twice the energy yield of a conventional wind turbine with the same rotor diameter.A new approach to construction"This is an overwhelming moment for our entire team," says Gircon CEO Prof. Dr. Jochen Großmann (via Google Translate). "What was long a challenging idea and then an equally challenging construction project now stands as a globally unique facility in Schipkau... we at Gicon are extremely proud of this."The engineering team used a special 'inside out' approach to constructing the tower, using what's known as a strand jack system to lift the higher sections through the center of the base of the turbine before fixing them in place.And there's another promising aspect to all this: Gicon says current wind farms can be retrofitted with the taller structures, meaning (in theory) more power from existing turbine plots without the need for more land development.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.Once the world record turbine is running, we'll be able to see just how effective it is at harnessing the faster, more consistent winds at higher altitudes. If it proves a success, expect to see wind turbines getting a lot faster in the future. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.