Mightiest Wind

Abstract

This article explores the increasing use of wind turbines for generating power. It also discusses that changing the economics of wind power can make it more practical for deep-ocean turbines to harness strong, steady offshore winds. Engineers around the globe are focusing on creating conventional motors that can improve performance of wind turbines. Companies have found that a direct-drive generator built with superconducting windings would produce twice as much power per volume as a conventional generator, with a small parasitic loss due to cryogenic cooling. The prospect of producing more power per tower, which would be the net effect of using 10 MW turbines, might enable more offshore wind projects to become economically feasible. Sinovel, a Chinese generator company, is already planning to build 5 MW machines using existing technology. Once 10 MW machines become available, it is conceivable that they would quickly adopt them for offshore installations. It would be a step toward clearing the coal-fed brown haze that envelopes much of East Asia.