Are Vertical Turbines The Future Of Offshore Wind Power?

Are Vertical Turbines The Future Of Offshore Wind Power?

What makes renewable energy so exciting is the immense economic potential of groundbreaking technology advancements. A recent discovery by engineers of Oxford Brookes University's School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics could change the design of offshore wind farms forever. The study, led by Professor Iakovos Tzanakis, demonstrates that deep sea and coastal wind turbines could achieve a 15% increase in power output if traditional horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) are replaced by a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) design. While classic HAWT windmills produce energy with a standard three-blade "pinwheel" design, VAWT utilizes a more cylindrical shape with blades rotating around a central shaft. The main issue with conventional HAWT windfarms – which can number 60 to 70 turbines over 1500 acres – is that efficiency degrades rapidly in the back rows due to turbulence from the first rows of the formation. Vertical axis turbines solve this issue by generating less turbulence, and in some cases even improving the efficiency of nearby turbines. The basis of their research is in computational flow analysis using 11, 500 hours of computer simulations to optimize placement. They also analyzed the effects of downstream generated turbulence which reduces the back-row efficiency of traditional HAWTs