Conventional windmills have contributed in a big way to meet with the renewable energy requirements in the UK. Now it time for a new wind turbine design to breathe new life into hopes for the UK’s clean energy targets. Nova (Novel Offshore Vertical Axis Demonstrator) has come up with an innovative wind turbine concept, which it calls the “Aerogenerator.” This design is anticipated to make offshore wind power more economical.
Turning traditional windmills to their side, the Aerogenerator incorporates a 100m tall V-shaped blade rotating on a vertical, rather than the usual horizontal, axis. Unlike conventional windmills that have the moving parts and machinery at the top of the tower, this one has them installed at the base. This design is claimed to make constructing and maintaining the windmill easier, along with making renewable electricity affordable. The project is one of the three that are being funded by the government-backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) as part of a project to find ways of bringing down the cost of offshore wind power.
Nova, which is being developed by OTM Consulting Limited with collaborators from Cranfield, Sheffield and Strathclyde universities, has a goal of having 1GW of offshore vertical axis turbines installed by 2020 behind it. The demonstrator Aerogenerator turbine will be built offshore by 2015. Each windmill would be designed to generate between 5MW and 10MW of power, but because each would be cheaper to build than an equivalent modern turbine, the overall cost of an offshore wind farm, and the electricity, should be lower.
Via: Guardian