Wind energy giant Vestas has revealed its innovative multi-rotor turbine design has delivered power for the first time, fueling hopes the four rotor concept model could help to maximise wind farm output and curb clean energy costs.

 

The company announced over the weekend that satisfactory to the results of necessary tests the turbine had produced its first kWh as planned.

 

Extensive tests of the new design are now expected to continue. "Right now we are testing various software functions," said Erik Carl Lehnskov Miranda, senior specialist for electrical, load and control at the company, in a statement. "One of them is the cut-out functionality, i.e. if the concept demonstrator stops when it reaches the cut-out wind speed. Another one is the yaw system supervision that shuts down the turbine in case the yaw misalignment exceeds certain values."

 

The company unveiled the new design earlier this year, detailing how the use of four rotors could challenge the assumption that the only way to increase wind farm output is to build ever larger turbines - a trend that faces challenges from increasingly demanding planning rules in many jurisdictions.

 

The manufacturer is working with the Technical University of Denmark on the concept demonstration unit, which it hopes will ultimately serve to further reduce the cost of wind energy by boosting outputs and curbing the cost of installation and maintenance.

 

"Installing a concept turbine shows that innovation sometimes entails entirely new thinking and new approaches," Jorge Magalhaes, senior vice president, Vestas Innovation and Concepts, said at the unveiling of the research project. "This process of continuous innovation and exploration is extremely important. It provides us with essential knowledge that can help us bring down our products' cost of energy and integrate key technologies to solve our customers' challenges."

 

The news follows a busy week for Vestas, during which the company announced a flurry of new orders, including a 162MW turbine order from the US, a 76MW order from Turkey, and a 26MW order from Turkey. (businessGreen)