The U.S. Energy Department says new funding aimed at building wind turbines with hub heights up to 140 metres could unlock 1,800 gigawatts of new onshore wind energy across 380, 000 square-kilometres of the United States, an area about the size of Texas.
Two organisations, Iowa State University and Massachusetts engineering firm Keystone Towers, will receive $2 million to advance technologies for harnessing stronger, more consistent wind speeds at these higher heights; reducing the cost of wind energy and increasing the locations where wind farms can be established.
“In the northeastern, southeastern, and western United States, winds near the ground are often slower and more turbulent, reducing the amount of electricity installed turbines can generate,” says part of a Department statement.
“While wind turbines installed in 2013 had an average height of 260 feet (80 metres), the projects announced today will support new design and manufacturing techniques to produce towers nearly 400 feet (120 metres) tall.”
Half the funding will go to Iowa State University’s Engineering Department to further their work on Hexcrete, a high-strength concrete that uses pre-cast, portable panels to build hexagon-shaped towers around a cement column. Such a system removes the logistical problems involved in transporting massive steel turbine components by truck from factory to wind farm.
“I think this will revolutionize wind energy,” said Sri Sritharan, Iowa State University’s Wilson Engineering Professor in Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. “We won’t need to transport these big tubular towers on the highways and we’ll harvest energy where it’s needed.”
“If used for the entire height,” Sritharan wrote in his project summary, “the Hexcrete concept will eliminate transportation challenges and engage a well-established U.S.-based precast concrete industry in the wind tower business, thereby greatly reducing reliance on foreign steel and increasing the job market in the U.S.”
Keystone Towers of Massachusetts will receive $1 million for an on-site spiral welding system that can be scaled up to produce much wider, lighter turbines and will enable turbine towers to be constructed nearby wind farm sites. The Energy Department believes this system could lower the cost of wind power by 10 per cent.
“Taller wind turbines capture the stronger, more consistent winds available at elevated heights, increasing the number of potential locations where wind farms can supply cost-effective power to American businesses and homeowners,” the Department said.
