This tower of power could generate clean electricity in desert-type environments its creators says – a lot of it.
SWET consists of a very tall hollow cylinder with a water injection system near the top and wind tunnels containing turbines near the bottom.
Pumps deliver water to the Tower’s injection system and a fine mist is cast across the aperture. The mist evaporates and is absorbed by hot dry air; resulting in the air becoming cooler and heavier than the air outside. This denser air drops down the cylinder at speeds that can exceed 80km/h and is diverted to wind tunnels around the base. Turbines inside the tunnel power generators that produce electricity.
The company behind SWET, Solar Wind Energy, Inc., says most of the water used can be reclaimed.
As mentioned, the tower is big – incredibly big; around 365 metres across the base and a whopping 680 metres high. To put that into context, the Eiffel Tower is 301 metres high. The world’s tallest artificial structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at 829.8 metres.
So how does this technology stack up to solar PV or traditional wind power? It will come as no surprise the company says very well indeed.
It says for a facility cranking 4,380,00 MWh annually, a site of 300 acres is needed; compared to 10,000 acres for solar and 100,000 acres for wind. In terms of cost, the SWET would be in the region of USD $1.5 billion compared to $5.3 and $5.7 billion for wind and solar respectively.
The life of a SWET plant would be 50 years compared to 20 years for wind and 25 years for solar.
Additionally, the company points out, the facility can generated power 24/7/365
Solar Wind Energy, Inc. recently issued an update on its business plan and project in San Luis, Arizona. That project will have a gross production capacity up to 1,250 megawatt hours per hour, but due to lower capacities during winter days, the average hourly output per day for sale will be approximately 435 megawatt hours/hr.
Another tower-type concept we’ve covered in the past is one that harnesses the energy of updrafts.
