Suprapower Wind Turbines Supercharged with Superconductors

European Commission : CORDIS : Newsroom : Super wind turbines represent a major technological breakthrough

Harnessing the wind's energy is the objective of a new project, which aims to provide an important breakthrough in offshore wind industrial solutions.

The EU-funded project, called SUPRAPOWER, is working on a more powerful, reliable and lightweight superconducting offshore wind turbine. The four-year project has the expertise of nine European partners from industry and science under the coordination of Tecnalia in Spain.

Source: European Commission : CORDIS : Newsroom : Super wind turbines represent a major technological breakthrough

Suprapower | Superconducting, reliable, lightweight and more powerful offshore wind turbine.

Suprapower

SUPRAPOWER (SUPerconducting, Reliable, lightweight, And more POWERful offshore wind turbine) is an EU FP7 founded research project focused on a major innovation in offshore wind turbine technology by developing a new compact superconductor-based generator.

The project aims to provide an important breakthrough in offshore wind industrial solutions by designing an innovative, lightweight, robust and reliable 10 MW class offshore wind turbine based on a superconducting (SC) generator, taking into account all the essential aspects of electric conversion, integration and manufacturability.

Source: Suprapower | Superconducting, reliable, lightweight and more powerful offshore wind turbine.

Wind turbines supercharged with superconductors - tech - 18 January 2013 - New Scientist

At heart, a wind turbine is simple - a series of wire coils attached to the rotor blade spin in the presence of strong magnetic fields, provided by stationary magnets. This generates a current, but the resistance in copper wire limits the amount of current that can flow through the coils. Making the coils from a resistance-free superconductor would cut down on weight and boost power generation.

Using superconductors will not be easy, though, partly due to the ultra-low temperatures they require. Developing a coil that can be cooled while simultaneously rotating with the turbine blades is a big challenge. A research project dubbed Suprapower, funded by the European Union, kicked off in December to address this problem.

Source: Wind turbines supercharged with superconductors - tech - 18 January 2013 - New Scientist

TECNALIA will shake up offshore wind market with smaller wind turbines - Tecnalia. Inspiring Business

The project aims to provide an important breakthrough in offshore wind industrial solutions by designing an innovative, lightweight, robust and reliable 10 MW class offshore wind turbine based on a superconducting (SC) generator, taking into account all the essential aspects of electric conversion, integration and manufacturability.

SUPRAPOWER will pursue

• To reduce turbine head mass, size and cost of offshore wind turbines in about a 30% by means of a compact superconducting generator.
• To reduce O&M and transportation costs and increase life cycle using an innovative direct drive system.
• To increase the reliability and efficiency of high power wind turbines by means of drive-train specific integration in the nacelle.

Source: TECNALIA will shake up offshore wind market with smaller wind turbines - Tecnalia. Inspiring Business

Related

• KIT - Visiting - Current Topics - Press Releases - PI 2013 - Superconductors for Efficient Wind Power Plants
• New Winding Wire Could Supercharge Wind Turbines - World Industrial Reporter : World Industrial Reporter
• Two European Projects Launched to Improve Wind Turbines | Renewable Energy News Article
• Suprapower | Superconducting, reliable, lightweight and more powerful offshore wind turbine.
• Home - Tecnalia. Inspiring Business

The SeaTwirl Floating Vertical Wind Turbine

SeaTwirl Turbine Could be the Most Cost-Effective Wind Energy Generator Yet | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World
http://inhabitat.com/new-seatwirl-design-to-be-the-most-cost-effective-wind-turbine-yet

• Swedish eco-designers, Ehrnberg Solutions AB, have just completed their most successful prototype of the floating SeaTwirl vertical wind turbine. The device captures and harvests offshore wind, without having to convert the energy as it is being stored. SeaTwirl is the first of its kind with only two moving parts, and it uses only sea water as a roller bearing, omitting the need for a gearbox or transmission.

SeaTwirl - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U6WxckCptM&feature=player_embedded

SeaTwirl

http://seatwirl.com

• A successful test installation has been carried out in the sea near Halmstad on the Swedish west coast. Intense weeks of building, launching and tests at sea have now been completed and the technology has proven to work excellent! Read more about the SeaTwirl prototype III.
  The development, construction and installation of the prototype is made in cooperation and with support of the following companies, organisations and institutions: Chalmers University of technology, Habasit AB, Ingeniörsfirman Myrén & Co. AB, Mekpart AB, Miltronic AB, Halmstad Hamn AB, Rexnord Industries, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, University of Gothenburg.

SeaTwirl Prototype III - Sea Trial - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZKNxQNYtLk&feature=player_embedded

Hywind -- StatoilHydro's floating wind turbine

clipped from www.youtube.com World's first floating wind turbine The world's first floating wind turbine has been towed to sea in a pilot project aimed at creating future wind farms miles off shore where the wind can be very strong. clipped from www.statoilhydro.com StatoilHydro has decided to build the world’s first full scale floating wind turbine, Hywind, and test it over a two-year period offshore Karmøy. The The company is investing approximately 400 million NOK. Planned startup is autumn 2009. The HyWind-prototype will be situated 10 km off the west coast of Norway, offshore Karmøy. clipped from www.statoilhydro.com clipped from www.youtube.com clipped from usproxy.bbc.com Floating wind turbines can help shift offshore wind farms out of sight The flotation element stretches 100 metres below the sea surface It is anchored to the seabed in three places It can be moored in waters up to 700 metres deep clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Power: 2.3 megawatt Above sea: 100m Below sea: 100m Today's solutions are too costly as the margins are so much slimmer in this area than in the oil and gas industry Sjur Bratland, Hywind asset manager, StatoilHydro

Sources:

1. YouTube - World's first floating wind turbine
2. StatoilHydro to build first full scale offshore floating wind turbine
3. hywind_05.jpg (JPEG Image, 3500x3500 pixels)
4. YouTube - Hywind, worlds first offshore floating windmill (go HQ!)
5. BBC NEWS | Business | Floating wind turbine launched
6. BBC NEWS | Business | Floating challenge for offshore wind turbine

Related:

1. World's First Floating Wind Turbine Swtiches On
2. Floating Wind Turbines Could Revolutionize Wind Power
3. Floating Off-Shore Wind Rig Based on Oil Rig Technology
4. First offshore wind turbine to be buoyed off Norway | Green Tech - CNET News
5. Oil Company Begins Wind Test of Off-Shore Floating Platform : CleanTechnica

KiteGen -- Wind Power from High Altitude Troposphere

Uses kites instead of propellers, theoretically producing as much energy as a nuclear power plant

Kite Gen vision is to implement and market an entirely new concept of power plant, suitable to almost any territory, for the production from renewable source of electrical energy cheaper than from fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, gas), directly competing with present day conventional GigaWatt installations.

The energy source, currently untapped and available anywhere, is the powerful altitude wind of the troposphere, channelled through arrays of large tethered power kites cruising at an altitude of 800 / 1 000 m, whose movements are electronically controlled by highly sophisticated sensors and proprietary software.

The power kites are anchored to a revolving structure on a vertical axis at ground level, which conveys the energy thus generated.

Kite Gen

via: KiteGen - Rivaling Nuclear Power For Global Electricity Consumption - Ecofriend
related:
KiteGen - Rivaling Nuclear Power For Global Electricity Consumption - Ecofriend
loveOrganics » Blog Archive » Kite-Powered Generator to Rival Nuclear
Kite Gen
Kite Gen - F.A.Q.
KWG project

Hong Kong Micro Wind Turbine Arrays

clipped from www.voanews.com

Hong Kong Inventors Unveil New Micro-Wind Turbines Suitable for City Dwellers

Wind turbine

Buzzing Hong Kong is better known for keeping lights on all night and the air conditioner running full blast, not saving energy. But engineers in the city have introduced an innovative wind energy technology than can help both rural and city residents protect the environment and cut down on energy costs - without having to spend a fortune on an expensive device. Claudia Blume reports.

clipped from www.hku.hk

HKU and Motorwave Limited Jointly Developed Micro-Wind Turbine Technology for Crowded Cities

Mr Lucien Gambarota, the inventor of the micro-wind turbines explains, "To date, renewable energy generators have been too expensive and too complex to be used by individual consumers. Our philosophy is to make renewable energy accessible in terms of price and technology, so that every citizen can potentially play a role to improve our environment."

Related:
Hong Kong Inventors Unveil New Micro-Wind Turbines Suitable for City Dwellers
Micro Wind Turbines Make Splash in Hong Kong : The Alternative Consumer
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Micro Wind Turbine Arrays - Wind

Solar and Wind Powered Bike

clipped from bicycledesign.blogspot.com Navitas bicycle trailer/generator concept As a final year design student at the University of Derby in England, Paul Smith designed a bike trailer that doubles as a generator. “It’s a pure concept in sustainable transport” explains Paul. The trailer concept, called Navitas, is the first to create its own renewable energy. The rear wheel splits 3 ways to become a vertical axis turbine. In addition to the wind power, a compact solar panel helps to provide a charge to the onboard 24V battery “It’s purely for the cyclist adventurer who likes to pedal around the country but also likes a bit of creature comfort,” says Paul.

via: Solar and Wind Powered Bike | Got2BeGreen
related: New Designers 2007 - Celebrating 22 years of excellence in graduate design