World's tallest wind turbine in Germany reaches full height

A wind turbine being built in eastern Germany reached its full height of 365 metres (1,197 feet) Tuesday, making it the world's tallest, according to the company that built it.

The developer Gicon, which plans to put the turbine into operation in November, said that the height was achieved with the "extension of the turbine's inner tower" using a special cable lifting system.

It means the turbine in Schipkau, Brandenburg state, now with its rotor blades attached, is the second-highest structure in Germany, just three metres shorter than Berlin's TV Tower.

The turbine is designed to harness stronger and more consistent high-altitude winds to generate twice as much energy as a conventional wind turbine, according to Gicon.

Built among around fifty similar turbines on the Schipkau wind farm, established in 2000, the giant turbine is expected to supply electricity to 7,500 households, a manager told AFP during a site visit earlier this year.

Funded by the state to the tune of 20 to 30 million euros via its agency for breakthrough innovations, the project was set up in what was historically a coal-mining region, but where vast open-pit mines are gradually closing down in line with Germany's climate targets.

The turbine has sparked some local opposition, including from the far-right Alternative for Germany party which denies man-made climate change.