Technology

SuperVAWT Ltd is looking to demonstrate a new vertical axis wind turbine design, not yet deployed at commercial scale, that will lower the cost of energy and lend confidence to future investment decisions.

SuperVAWT technology increases the power produced by wind turbines. This is achieved by increasing the lift produced from the blades of vertical axis wind turbines. The solution actively controls variable camber blades, which are blades with trailing edge flaps. The efficiency gain has been modelled using industry standard software tools. The low end of expectations is a 10% increase above current commercial horizontal axis wind turbines.

Investors

Looking to invest in cleaner renewable technology?

SuperVAWT has great potential to reduce the cost of wind power generation. The technology is at an early stage but an engineered product is closer than you may think. Years of development by wind turbine engineers has reduced the time it takes to develop new wind turbines. SuperVAWT is following a process to reduce risk systematically and step by step. A series of small prototypes have been built and tested. A data driven decision favours this technology over the current horizontal axis designs.

The world will one day have to move away from fossil fuels for energy. When and how fast we do that is up to us. It is possible. It will create a more secure, less polluting future and at a lower cost than today. To achieve that, the best ideas need to come forwards and be developed. We do not need to leave a legacy of debt and pollution to the next generations because we are clinging to the technology and solutions of yesterday. The historic polluting technologies we have relied on, come at a cost. A fear of change or finding something worse, delays a more sustainable, cleaner and affordable energy system.

Questions

Which are better horizontal axis or vertical axis wind turbines?

Vertical axis wind turbines have blades that are vertical and travel around a vertical axis, the tower. Horizontal axis turbines, are the standard wind turbines that look like propellers. The blades of a horizontal axis turbine travel around a horizontal axis. SuperVAWT variable camber technology has changed the efficiency of vertical axis wind turbines. Therefore, we need to answer this with care. At large commercial scale, vertical axis wind turbines using active superVAWT pitch and camber controls may in the future be the better choice. Today, if you are planning or building a wind farm the answer is a horizontal axis wind turbine. That answer will remain the same until superVAWT technology is available at sufficient scale to replace horizontal axis wind turbines. At micro to small scale, the answer may always favour simpler fixed pitch designs. Today, large wind turbines use variable pitch technology; small wind turbines do not.

When was SuperVAWT Ltd established?

SuperVAWT Ltd was established in 2009 and has been developing vertical axis wind turbine technology ever since.

What is your biggest market opportunity?

Increasing wind turbine efficiency directly reduces the cost of energy, it makes wind power cheaper. If you are buying a wind turbine, it increases the return on your investment. The biggest reduction in cost is found in the floating wind turbine sector. Vertical axis wind turbines have the generator under the turbine. This lowers the vertical centre of gravity. This benefits the developers of floating wind turbines as it reduces the cost of the floating platform and makes towing the turbines safer and quicker. It also reduces the operating costs for floating wind farms as the maintenance of key components is simpler and safer. The location of the generator under the turbine also increases the potential to use heavier non rare earth magnet generators. This reduces the risk of delay or even non delivery of turbines to projects due to supply chain disruption.

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