The Anonymous Widower

Do All Wind Turbines Have To Be Similar?

I feel this is a reasonable question to ask.

But do all wind turbines have to look like those in this picture?

Wikipedia lists three main types.

1. Horizontal Axis – Those in the picture are of this type, as are all the large wind turbines I’ve seen in operation.
2. Vertical Axis – Wikipedia shows several examples.
3. Unconventional Types

Recently, I have come across some which would be placed in the last group.

Hybrid Offshore Wind And Wave Energy Systems

This article on the Journal of Physics is entitled Review of Hybrid Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Systems, is a study from serious academics.

This is the abstract.

Hybrid wind wave systems combine offshore wind turbines with wave energy on a shared platform. These systems optimize power production at a single location by harnessing both the wind and the waves. Wave energy is currently at an earlier development stage than offshore wind. Research in this area is focused in wave energy converters being used for platform motion suppression of floating offshore wind turbines. Wave energy converters can passively shelter offshore wind turbines from waves and can also be actively controlled to reduce the system loads. Additionally, a small amount of supplemental power may be generated, which can be used for offshore wind turbine local power needs. There may be future benefits to these hybrid systems, but at this stage wave energy may increase the project cost and risk of offshore wind turbines. Hybrid wind wave system research and development is discussed, with a focus on floating offshore wind turbines. Additionally, two ocean demonstration scale hybrid wind and wave systems are discussed as case studies: the Poseidon Wave and Wind system and the W2Power system. Hybrid wind wave systems show potential to be part of the future of offshore wind energy.

Note.

1. Wave energy development is at an earlier stage than offshore wind.
2. Wave energy converters can passively shelter offshore wind turbines from waves and can also be actively controlled to reduce the system loads.
3. There is more about Poseidon on this page on the Tethys web site.
4. There is more about W2Power on the Pelagic Power web site.

The last sentence of the abstract is significant and I believe that hybrid offshore wind and wave energy will play a significant part in the future of offshore energy.

Wind Turbines With Added Storage

Critics and cynics of wind power always ask, what happens, when the wind doesn’t blow.

It is generally accepted, that the best thing to do is to pair a wind farm with some form of energy storage.

Technologies and solar and/or wind farms with energy storage are starting to be proposed and/or installed.

• In Cleve Hill Solar Park, I wrote about a solar farm, a wind farm and a battery sharing a grid connection.
• In First Ever Gravity Green Energy Storage System Set For North Yorkshire Town, I wrote about a battery being installed where two massive wind farms connect to the grid.
• In How To Store Excess Wind Power Underwater, I describe a Dutch system called an Ocean Battery.
• In UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, I wrote about adding Marine Pumped Hydro to offshore wind farms.

More energy storage will be added in the future in or near to wind and solar farms.

Twin Turbines

This document from the Department of Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy lists all the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4 results for the supply of zero-carbon electricity.

One of the projects allocated a Contract for Difference, was the 32 MW TwinHub wind turbine, which I wrote about in Hexicon Wins UK’s First Ever CfD Auction For Floating Offshore Wind.

A full scale twin turbine hasn’t been built yet, but it does seem promising and the visualisations are impressive.

Scroll down on the TwinHub home page to see a video.

World Wide Wind

I’ll let the images on the World Wide Wind web site do the talking.

But who would have thought, that contrarotating wind turbines, set at an angle in the sea would work?

This is so unusual, it might just work very well.

Conclusion

There will be other unusual concepts in the future.

October 2, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Design, Energy, Energy Storage | Cleve Hill Solar Park, Co-Located Wind/Battery Project, Floating Wind Power, Marine Pumped Hydro, Offshore Wind Power, TwinHub Floating Wind, Wave Power, Wind Power, World Wide Wind