Objective: The primary goal of this study is to address the rising costs linked to the production, transportation, and construction of traditional conical wind turbine towers with increasing wind turbine sizes. Therefore, a novel design for an internally prestressed segmented steel-concrete tower structure is proposed, aiming to improve static performance and structural integrity, reducing material usage, and improving the overall efficiency of the wind turbine tower structure. Methods: Detailed finite element models of the traditional conical steel and new prestressed segmented steel-concrete towers are developed using the ABAQUS platform. These models accurately reflect the geometric complexity and material properties of the structures. The material properties of steel and concrete are defined based on their mechanical characteristics. For concrete, a plastic damage model is utilized to capture its inelastic behavior, whereas steel is modeled using a bilinear stress-strain relationship to represent its yielding and hardening behavior. The models are tested under realistic boundary conditions that simulate the fixed bases of the towers. The loading conditions include the dead load of the tower structure, the weight of the turbine components, and the dynamic loads from the 3-D turbulent wind field during shutdown. Wind loads are calculated using GH-Bladed software simulations specific to the wind turbine model. Prestressing is applied to the new tower model using two methods: temperature reduction and equivalent load. The temperature reduction method simulates prestress by cooling the tendons, whereas the equivalent load method applies an external force equivalent to the prestress effect. Moreover, static and dynamic analyses are performed on the models. Static analyses evaluate stress distribution, displacement, and the linear and nonlinear buckling performances of the tower. Dynamic analyses examine modal characteristics, including natural frequencies and mode shapes. Parametric studies are constructed to understand how various design parameters, including prestress levels, tower wall thickness, tower radius, and concrete strength, affect structural performance. The results of these studies provide insights into the sensitivity of these parameters to the structure. Nonlinear analyses are conducted to account for material and geometric nonlinearities in the structure, which are crucial for accurately predicting the ultimate load-carrying capacity and postbuckling behavior of the towers. The finite element models are validated against experimental data and other numerical studies from the literature, ensuring the simulation results are reliable and accurate. Results: The static performance of the new tower structure is considerably improved without prestressing. The maximum equivalent stress, tower top displacement, and steel usage drop by 10.24%, 14.89%, and 9.51%, respectively. Furthermore, the first natural frequency increases by 7.5% compared to the traditional conical tower. When prestressing is applied, the maximum equivalent stress of the new tower structure and tower top displacement drop by 0.36% and 6%, and the first natural frequency rises by up to 7.6% compared to the nonprestressed state. Compared to the new tower without prestressing, the prestressed tower exhibits a 9.27% enhancement in its linear buckling load; during nonlinear buckling analysis, the load proportionality factor rises by roughly 4.6%, 4.1%, and 4.8% when considering only material nonlinearity, considering both material and geometric nonlinearity, and considering material and geometric nonlinearity along with initial defects. Without prestressing, the ultimate bending capacity of the new tower is 1.15 times that of the traditional conical steel tower. After adding prestressed tendons, this capacity increases by another 6.5%. The weak points near buckling in the new and traditional conical towers are located in section 6 (approximately halfway up the tower). The new tower without prestressing shows better buckling performance than the traditional tower. When prestressing is applied, the ultimate buckling load is minimally affected by the prestress level, with overall buckling performance mainly constrained by the buckling behavior of the thin-walled segments, as seen in the segmented steel tower. Conclusions: The new prestressed segmented steel-concrete tower structure offers remarkable advantages over traditional conical steel towers in terms of static performance, modal characteristics, and buckling resistance. The use of prestressing enhances structural efficiency and optimizes material utilization. This comprehensive analysis provides a scientific foundation for the engineering application of the new tower structure, indicating it as a viable and promising solution for next-generation wind turbine towers.