A new wind turbine is on the way to improve a renewable energy, the offshore wind power! There are so many ways to produce electricity in a clean way and wind energy is gaining popularity. This wind energy uses wind turbines, but a Norwegian company has presented a new floating wind turbine which could revolutionize the clean energy world. This technological innovation aims to improve electricity production efficiency and reduce the cost and the impact on the environment. This new floating wind turbine is like an open window to a more accessible and accurate development of sustainable energy.
Renewable energies are getting bigger in most parts of the world, which is a good thing for the prevention of the worsening of the environment. So, let’s see how these floating wind turbines work.
Wind energy
With the passage of time, we have seen an increase of countries incorporating and searching for no-polluting ways to produce energy. One of these is the wind power, which creates energy when the wind makes the huge blades of the wind turbine move. This turbine is like a huge fan with huge blades and these turbines are located in high places where they are windy.
Although we already have a lot of these wind turbines, they have some issues: some of them are very expensive, others complex to maintain and most of them don’t work as much if the wind doesn’t go in a specific direction.
New floating wind turbine
Having in mind all the problems the original wind turbines have, a Norwegian company has come up with an idea to solve this situation: a floating wind turbine. What’s this? Well, this new turbine is very similar to the wind turbines we are familiar with when it comes to design, but they very different in other aspects:
- It can be located in the sea with no need to be attached to the seabed, something impossible with the regular wind turbines. The floating wind turbines float on the sea, as it’s mentioned on its name, with the capacity to be located offshore, where the wind is much stronger.
- The new floating turbines have an axis where the blades move and it’s like a tube from up to down, whereas the regular turbines go from side to side.
- The new turbines have two parts that move in opposite directions. Imagine two propellers, one on top of the other and moving in different ways.
- Due to all these features, the floating wind turbine can move faster and produce more energy. It’s remarkable that it also works even though the wind doesn’t come in the perfect direction. What’s more, they take less space, but it doesn’t affect the electricity production because it produces even more!
How much energy?
At the first testing of the Norwegian company’s turbines, it could generate 30 kilowatts (kW) of energy. However, the Norwegian company wants it to reach 40 megawatts (MW) and make it more than 4,265 feet high (higher than a lot of skyscrapers).
This would mean a reduction of the cost of energy production with wind, so the cheaper the product, the more people and countries will buy it. Any positive consequences for the future of our planet? Sure! As there will be more floating wind turbines, polluting fuels will be obsolete and the environment will suffer no harm.
Significance of this invention
The fact that these floating wind turbines can be located offshore means they will take advantage of the wind coming from this place. Also, the manufacturing is cheap and more electricity will be produced without damaging our planet Earth.
Using technology advances to make the world a better place is the perfect use. If more companies like the Norwegian one kept developing technology like this, the risk of irreparable damage to the environment would be far from being a reality.