Disruptive offshore wind pyramid moves to real-world prototype testing

T-Omega’s pyramid-based floating wind turbines are designed with the sole common-sense focus of keeping the cost of offshore wind down to an absolute minimum. With wave tank testing done, the company has now launched its first real-world prototype.Cont… Continue reading Disruptive offshore wind pyramid moves to real-world prototype testing

Container-based mobile battery hub recharged by kite power

A Dutch startup spun out of the Delft University of Technology has launched the Kitepower Hawk, a wind energy storage solution that’s designed to replace diesel generators for small island communities, on construction sites or in agriculture.Continue R… Continue reading Container-based mobile battery hub recharged by kite power

Bill Gates backs novel device promising wind energy at 1/3 the cost

It looks nothing like a typical “fan on a stick” wind turbine, but this oval track with evenly spaced wing blades could be an enormously disruptive addition to the renewable energy mix, since it slashes the cost of wind power to unprecedented lows.Cont… Continue reading Bill Gates backs novel device promising wind energy at 1/3 the cost

Extraordinary contra-rotating floating wind turbines to begin testing

A wildly innovative turbine that could halve the cost of offshore wind is set to go into testing in Norway. The 19-m (62-ft), 30-kW, contra-rotating vertical-axis turbine is a prototype of a design that could scale to unprecedented size and power.Conti… Continue reading Extraordinary contra-rotating floating wind turbines to begin testing

Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power

We haven’t seen a floating offshore wind turbine like this before. Touchwind claims its innovative single-blade turbines will solve several problems to drive down cost and downtime, using a single, huge blade with no fancy active pitch controls.Continu… Continue reading Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power

Active wind turbine control aims to cut bird deaths by 80%

It’s hard to ascertain how many birds fly into the spinning blades of wind turbines and die as a result – and indeed, the topic is so politically charged that I’d recommend a radiation suit before even googling it. The American Bird Conservancy has wad… Continue reading Active wind turbine control aims to cut bird deaths by 80%

Converting Wind to Electricity or: The Doubly-Fed Induction Generator

Humanity has been harvesting energy from the wind for centuries. The practice goes back at least to 8th century Persia where the first known historical records of windmills came, but …read more Continue reading Converting Wind to Electricity or: The Doubly-Fed Induction Generator

Pivoting arms could stabilize massive floating offshore wind turbines

As we’ve discussed many times before, offshore wind represents an enormous opportunity for clean energy, but some of the best resources are out in deep water, where sinking a shaft straight into the sea bed becomes prohibitively expensive and difficult… Continue reading Pivoting arms could stabilize massive floating offshore wind turbines