SeaTwirl is a vertical floating wind turbine that was tested off the west coast of Sweden in 2011. It is also the name of the company that produces the turbine.
History The design was developed by Daniel Ehrnberg.Lars Anders Karlberg, "TV: Vindkraft med svänghjul ger mer el", NyTeknik 9 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011 Chalmers University of Technology built a prototype"Sea Twirl - A New Type of Off Shore Wind Turbine", Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 11 November 2010, retrieved 26 September 2011 and tested it at SSPA.Tests performed at SSPA, SeaTwirl, 13 June 2011, retrieved 26 September 2011. A 30 kW (1/50 scale)Ben Coxworth, "SeaTwirl puts a new spin on offshore wind turbines" GizMag, 27 September 2011, retrieved 27 March 2012. third-generation anchored prototype rising 3 m above the water and reaching 7 m deep was installed off the west coast of Sweden near Halmstad in August 2011,Prototype III , SeaTwirl, retrieved 26 September 2011.Unik prototyp till vindkraftverk snurrar i havet utanför Halmstad Hamn , Aktuellt i Halmstad Hamn, Port of Halmstad, 12 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011 tested successfullyFloating offshore wind foundations , Main(e) International Consulting LLC, retrieved 27 March 2012. and de-commissioned.Justin Wilkes et al., "The European offshore wind industry key 2011 trends and statistics", European Wind Energy Association, p. 5 (pdf), January 2012, retrieved 26 March 2012. In 2022, Norway granted concession to install a 1 MW prototype in the Boknafjord.
Design SeaTwirl has a vertical axis, with blades above water and the generator below. It is one of several designs that can float and therefore be positioned far offshore and take advantage of the stronger winds there.Sarah Laskow, "Hope Floats for a New Generation of Deep-Water Wind Farms", Good Environment, 13 September 2011, retrieved 27 September 2011. The SeaTwirl design uses the seawater itself as a roller bearing and stores energy in a water-filled torus. The company intends to use the design to enable the use of cheaper and heavier materials to lower the cost below conventional turbines and generate energy even when the wind is not blowing.SeaTwirl , Startups, CleanIndex, retrieved 26 September 2011.Startups och expansionsbolag inom STING-sfären, STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth AB), 2010, retrieved 27 September 2011
If the design is scaled to 430 m long, the company claims that it could provide 4.5 MW of electricity and store 25 MWh of energy.
See also
Renewable energy
References
External links
SeaTwirl, Ehrnberg Solutions AB, 12 September 2011 (pdf)