Wind turbine

Energy

Bill Gates backs novel device promising wind energy at 1/3 the cost

It looks nothing like a typical "fan on a stick" wind turbine, but this oval track with evenly spaced wing blades could be an enormously disruptive addition to the renewable energy mix, since it slashes the cost of wind power to unprecedented lows.

The KoalaLifter hugs a turbine tower, a little like a koala in a Eucalyptus tree, then climbs up and deploys a powerful crane

Energy

Climbing crane shimmies up turbine towers like a kid up a coconut tree

To build or maintain today's colossal wind turbine towers, you either need an absolute monster of a crane – or something like this. The KoalaLifter self-climbing crane is quick, compact, handles heavy loads and creeps up turbine towers of any height.

Contra-rotating vertical turbines could radically improve yield and reduce LCoE for floating offshore wind projects

Energy

Extraordinary contra-rotating floating wind turbines to begin testing

A wildly innovative turbine that could halve the cost of offshore wind is set to go into testing in Norway. The 19-m (62-ft), 30-kW, contra-rotating vertical-axis turbine is a prototype of a design that could scale to unprecedented size and power.

The bigger the wind turbine, the better the production and the economics. Hence, they're scaling up to ludicrous proportions.

Energy

Gargantuan 22-MW wind turbine will be among history's largest machines

Imagine something as tall as New York's Chrysler building, but spinning. China's Mingyang Smart Energy has announced plans for a colossal 22-megawatt offshore wind turbine, and standing in its presence will be an unprecedented human experience.

Giant single-bladed turbines could create more power in floating offshore arrays, at half the cost of a traditional design

Energy

Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power

We haven't seen a floating offshore wind turbine like this before. Touchwind claims its innovative single-blade turbines will solve several problems to drive down cost and downtime, using a single, huge blade with no fancy active pitch controls.

Norwegian researchers say they've found a potential way to cut down the numbers of birds killed by wind turbines

Energy

Active wind turbine control aims to cut bird deaths by 80%

One inconvenient truth for the clean energy industry – and a source of seemingly great concern to the fossil fuel lobby – is the indisputable fact that wind turbines kill birds. Researchers say smarter turbines could dramatically cut the toll.

This colossal 16-MW turbine is now the largest ever connected to a power grid

Energy

World's largest wind turbine is now fully operational and connected

Three Gorges Energy has connected the world's first 16-megawatt monster offshore wind turbine to the power grid. With a mind-boggling 260-meter (853-ft) rotor diameter, this towering colossus will supply clean energy for about 36,000 Chinese homes.

Gazelle says its innovative floating wind platforms can handle enormous offshore turbines up to 20 MW in a stable and cost-effective manner

Energy

Pivoting arms could stabilize massive floating offshore wind turbines

Irish company Gazelle has announced the third generation of a fascinating new floating wind platform design it says can stabiliize massive offshore turbines up to 20 MW in capacity, while radically reducing weight, cost and sea floor cable tension.

The facilities to manufacture large-diameter pipes on-site at wind farms can be set up and ready to go within about a month, says Keystone

Energy

GE installs world's first spiral-welded wind turbine tower

Denver's Keystone Tower Systems says it can cut the cost of wind energy with tech borrowed from pipemaking. It uses spiral welding techniques to roll sheet steel into huge turbine towers on-site, stronger, faster and cheaper than current techniques.

Once scaled up, the novel chemical process could save end-of-life epoxy-based turbine blades from ending up in landfill, and recover the raw materials for reuse

Environment

Vestas looks to recycle turbine blades headed for landfill

When a wind turbine reaches the end of its working life, some components can be recycled but blades often end up in landfill. Vestas is looking to commercialize a new chemical process that can break down all epoxy-based turbine blades for reuse.

Wind turbines just keep getting bigger – the MingYang MySE 18.X-28X will rise out of the ocean higher than a 70-story building

Energy

Wind turbine as tall as a 70-story building announced in China

Extreme engineering is becoming the norm as offshore wind continues to scale up. Sweeping the area of 12.3 standard NFL fields each rotation, with gargantuan 140-meter (459-ft) blades, the MySE 18.X-28X will be the largest wind turbine ever built.

A rendering of the CSSC Haizhuang H260-18MW, the world's largest wind turbine, which is currently under construction in China

Energy

World's new largest wind turbine sweeps 10 football fields per spin

The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is upping the ante on offshore wind, announcing it's building the largest and most powerful wind turbine ever, making a peak 18 megawatts with an enormous 260-m (853-ft) diameter on its three-bladed rotor.