SeaTwirl

SeaTwirl is a vertical floating wind turbine that was tested off the west coast of Sweden in 2011. It is also the name of the company that produces the turbine.[1]

History

The design was developed by Daniel Ehrnberg.[2] Chalmers University of Technology built a prototype[3] and tested it at SSPA.[4] A 1/50 scale[5] third-generation anchored prototype rising 3 m above the water and reaching 7 m deep[2] was installed off the west coast of Sweden near Halmstad in August 2011,[6][7] tested successfully[8] and de-commissioned.[9]

Design

SeaTwirl has a vertical axis, with blades above water and the generator below. It is one of several[8] designs that can float and therefore be positioned far offshore and take advantage of the stronger winds there.[10] The SeaTwirl design uses the seawater itself as a roller bearing and stores energy in a water-filled torus. The company intends to use the design to enable the use of cheaper and heavier materials to lower the cost below conventional turbines, and generate energy even when the wind is not blowing.[2][3][6][1][11]

If the design is scaled to 430 m long, the company claims that it could provide 4.5 MW of electricity and store 25 MWh of energy.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 SeaTwirl, Startups, CleanIndex, retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Lars Anders Karlberg, "TV: Vindkraft med svänghjul ger mer el", NyTeknik 9 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011 (Swedish)
  3. 1 2 "Sea Twirl - A New Type of Off Shore Wind Turbine", Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 11 November 2010, retrieved 26 September 2011 (Swedish)
  4. ↑ Tests performed at SSPA, SeaTwirl, 13 June 2011, retrieved 26 September 2011.
  5. 1 2 Ben Coxworth, "SeaTwirl puts a new spin on offshore wind turbines" GizMag, 27 September 2011, retrieved 27 March 2012.
  6. 1 2 Prototype III, SeaTwirl, retrieved 26 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Unik prototyp till vindkraftverk snurrar i havet utanför Halmstad Hamn, Aktuellt i Halmstad Hamn, Port of Halmstad, 12 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011 (Swedish)
  8. 1 2 Floating offshore wind foundations , Main(e) International Consulting LLC, retrieved 27 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Justin Wilkes et al., "The European offshore wind industry key 2011 trends and statistics", European Wind Energy Association, p. 5 (pdf), January 2012, retrieved 26 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Sarah Laskow, "Hope Floats for a New Generation of Deep-Water Wind Farms", Good Environment, 13 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Startups och expansionsbolag inom STING-sfären, STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth AB), 2010, retrieved 27 September 2011 (Swedish) Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
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