New wind turbines show high efficiency in low winds
June 12, 2018, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
VTT Research Centre of Technology (VTT) has explored the potential and economic benefits of new wind power technology. The technology would greatly increase the benefits of wind energy and enable the competitive utilisation of wind power in Finland. Heavy investments are being made in wind power, which highlights the importance of this new and competitive technology. Wind power accounts for around 4 percent of global electricity consumption, and for over 10 percent in Europe.
VTT has investigated Finland's wind power potential and compared various generations of the related technology. Ground-based wind turbines are often built in open locations where there is sufficient wind. The problem is that low winds do not generate adequate power. However, new technology now enables higher towers and larger rotors, i.e. longer blades, than the previous wind turbine generation. The VTT research has revealed that next-generation wind turbines are also reasonably efficient in low winds. This will allow turbines to be located more freely in the future, for example in forested areas.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-turbines-high-efficiency.html#jCp
