Photo: Wind Catching Systems AS
A self-taught inventor, Asbjørn Nes, has designed a huge wind energy facility that some think could revolutionise the green-energy movement. It is so big that it would dwarf the famous Eiffel Tower in stature.
The huge structure would be unlike the traditional wind-power turbines and would take the form of a giant interconnected grid of turbines producing vast amounts of electricity.
Ronny Karlsen, CFO of Wind Catching Systems AS, who is looking to make the design a reality, said to science news website IFLS:
"It was trying to be creative, doing something else. How can you change what's currently being done – that's the definition of innovation. The technology of having a floating structure offshore is well known, especially in the oil and gas industry. You have floating oil rigs that are [fixed] to the sea bed and stationary. The turbines that we have in our system [are] off the shelf. They are produced by many of the turbine producers. But the innovative [part] is the design – how you put this all together into one system that is different from everything else out there currently in the market."
At present, many wind farms have issues related to the high cost of maintenance, something the new style of gigantic wind grid seeks to avoid. Karlsen said:
"Currently with offshore wind, you … need a lot of specialized vessels with cranes to reach the turbines. What we're going to do is to build an elevator system … so that you can actually do all the maintenance and repairs without having these specialized offshore vessels available. That reduces our operating cost."
Karlsen also states that the new design could also produce more electricity:
"With conventional turbines – when the wind speed reaches 12 meters per second (m/s) they will start pitching the blades. The electricity will still be produced, but it will not increase above 12 m/s wind … they do this to not have the blades spin around too fast. [This new system] utilises something called the multirotor effect: the tests … show that having combining several small rotors close to each other, in sum they produce more power than if you have each one standing individually. It's because of the turbulence they create for each other – [it] actually increases the production."
Karlsen believes that construction on such giant projects could begin as soon as 2023 or 2024.
These huge structures could very well become a huge source of green energy in the future and go a long way to combating carbon emissions and global warming.
[h/t: IFL Science]
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