New offshore turbine design to create and store energy

New offshore turbine design to create and store energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- While many are taking to the oceans and trying to find the best ways to harness offshore wind and provide clean energy from renewable sources, the basic design of any wind turbine is that of a windmill. That is until now. The new design in the works is by Ehrnberg Solutions AB, which is owned and operated by Daniel Ehrnberg. Ehrnberg is also the inventor behind this newly designed turbine called SeaTwirl.

SeaTwirl, according to the company website, is a “new principle to store and harvest offshore wind energy. SeaTwirl uses the ocean sea water as a bearing and can therefore use cheaper and heavier materials and function as a large low speed flywheel.” This new design will allow wind power generating plants to be built without the need for a gearbox, transmission line or roller-bearings.

The new turbine, according to their video, is designed to be better suited for the ocean environment and use the benefits of both the air and the water. While the biggest prototype to date is 1:50 to scale, Ehrnberg hopes to have a fully functional turbine in the next four to six years and believes the SeaTwirl technology will be much more cost-effective. He plans to use undersea cables that are currently in place to bring the energy back to shore.

More information: seatwirl.com/technology/the-principle

via IEEE Spectrum

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Citation: New offshore turbine design to create and store energy (2011, September 28) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2011-09-offshore-turbine-energy.html
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