The world’s tallest wind turbine reached its final height of 365 metres this week in Schipkau, a small town in Brandenburg in eastern Germany. Raised with a telescopic system after roughly two years of construction, it now stands taller than the Eiffel Tower. At just three metres short of the 368-metre Berlin TV Tower, it has become Germany’s second-tallest structure.
The turbine’s hub stands at 300 metres and its blade tips reach 365 metres. Conventional wind turbines stand 150 to 250 metres tall. Jochen Grossmann, founder of the Dresden engineering firm Gicon, said wind at 300 metres is so constant and strong that the same installation can produce more than twice as much electricity as at today’s heights. The turbine is expected to supply up to 7,500 households.
Gicon built the project for SPRIND, the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation founded in 2019, based on an idea by East German engineer Horst Bendix, who died in 2023. Bendix designed huge lignite excavators in East Germany and invented a special bearing for the rotating sphere of the Berlin TV Tower. The turbine rises in Lusatia, a region defined for decades by lignite mining. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said it would help Germany become independent of oil and gas from other regions of the world.
The prototype’s main purpose is to gather performance and durability data at these heights. Official commissioning is planned for mid-November. Gicon aims to use the data to design a small farm of three to five ultra-tall turbines and assess the feasibility of series production. SPRIND says such turbines can be added to existing wind farms without developing new sites, with potential for up to 4,000. Renewables supplied 59.1% of Germany’s electricity in the first half of 2026.
The turbine reaching 365 metres in Schipkau, topping the Eiffel Tower, becoming Germany's second-tallest structure, Gicon building it for SPRIND, Horst Bendix's idea and background, 7,500 households and the potential for 4,000 turbines: Deutschland.de (dpa), 30 September 2026. The 300-metre hub and the 368-metre Berlin TV Tower: RenewEconomy, 30 September 2026. Roughly two years of construction and Schneider's remarks: Euronews, 30 September 2026. Commissioning in mid-November: AP (via WRAL), 1 October 2026; Enlit, 30 September 2026. Grossmann's twice-the-output remark, the prototype's purpose, the plan for three to five turbines and the 59.1% renewables share: CRBC News (citing AP), 1 October 2026. Construction starting on 19 September 2024: Wikipedia, Schipkau GICON Wind Turbine.
The description as the world's tallest wind turbine is the developer's; AP also attributes it to the developer. The doubled output and 7,500 households are expectations; the turbine has not yet started producing. It has not yet been formally commissioned.
The project's cost, the turbine's rated capacity and any decision on series production have not been disclosed.
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