The company’s unique turbine design uses a pair of counter-rotating blades on a vertical axis and places the generator at the bottom of the structure, allowing the turbine to tilt in the wind. (Image credit: World Wide Wind)
World Wide Wind has announced that it has entered into an agreement with AF Gruppen to begin testing its unique wind turbine prototype at the company’s yard at Vats on the southwest coast of Norway. The design is thought to be well suited for deep sea wind farms, and World Wide Wind states the cost advantages and scalability could reach 40 MW for a single turbine.
Testing is set to be carried out on a 30kW prototype that has a length of 62 feet and will demonstrate the innovation of the design, which uses a pair of counter-rotating blades set on a vertical axis. The generator is placed at the bottom of the turbine, which also acts as an anchor or stabilizer of sorts that allows the structure to tilt in the wind, much like a sailboat. The blades use a 3D trajectory with struts that add to the wind capture efficiency. The design produces a lower wake, less turbulence and wind channel down to sea level.
The unique design also uses fewer components than traditional turbines and uses a direct drive with no gears, which reduces weight and construction costs. Reducing the distance between the turbines makes it possible to increase the number of turbines in an area by two-fold, thus increasing the energy density while allowing the blades to spin at reduced speeds, which could lessen bird strikes. After successful testing of the prototype, World Wide Wind’s next step will be a 1.2MW pilot, which is scheduled to deploy in 2025.
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