Norwegian Firms Team up for Aluminium Wind Turbine Prototype for Floating Deep-Water Offshore

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Wed, Jan 11th, 2023

Highlights :

World Wide Wind says that wind turbines used for offshore floating wind have almost the same design these days and are based on land-based wind. But this initiative is an attempt at “moving a land-based technology offshore.”
The integrated floating wind turbines from World Wide Wind can be scaled up to 40 MW worth of capacity. This is more than twice that of current wind turbines.

Norwegian Firms Team up for Aluminium Wind Turbine Prototype for Floating Deep-Water Offshore

Innovative Wind Turbines that produce electricity & Hydrogen; also charge vehicles

Oslo’s Aluminium and energy major Hydro and World Wide Wind, a startup which offers solutions in floating offshore as well as offshore and onshore projects, have united forces to construct an offshore floating wind turbine made from aluminium. Hydro is among the largest aluminium firms in the world. The two Norwegian firms have signed a letter of intent towards this.

World Wide Wind has designed a wind turbine that functions like sailboats. The turbine has counter-rotating rotors that are mounted on a vertical axis which tilt in the direction of the wind. The design is unique as it has no nacelle, gear, cooling, or yaw. The two rotors have three blades each. These move in the shape of an inverted-v. The added weight is kept in check by having the generator at the base. With this, turbine stays afloat too. The end-goal of the project is to use sustainable and recyclable materials such as aluminium.

World Wide Wind says that wind turbines used for offshore floating wind have almost the same design these days and are based on land-based wind. But this initiative is an attempt at “moving a land-based technology offshore.”

The one-of-a-kind floating wind turbine for deepwater yields noteworthy benefits with reference to present-day technology in terms of energy production, cost, scalability and environmental footprint, said the CEO of World Wide Wind, Trond Lutdal while adding that the novel design allows for wind turbine structure to employ aluminum components. Hydro also sees great untapped potential for aluminium in many industries, including wind.

The integrated floating wind turbines from World Wide Wind can be scaled up to 40 MW worth of capacity. This is more than twice that of current wind turbines. Not just that, the turbines will also employ less materials while also having a smaller CO₂ footprint as opposed to regular turbines, revealed the firm further.