WHOLE NEW WIND TURBINE DESIGN

World's First Single Tower Multi-Set Vertical Axis Turbine From YATU to be Used and Marketed by Welwind Energy International
October 18, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via MarketWatch)

"Welwind Energy International Corp…announces GUANGDONG YATU INDUSTRY INVESTMENT CO., LTD's ("GYII") vertical axis turbine…[GYII] manufactured its first [horizontal axis] 750KW wind turbine in 2007 for Welwind…[It] spent an additional six years in working with international research and development institutions and internationally renowned experts to successfully design a single tower vertical axis turbine with two x 2MW stacked generators totalling 4MW.

"…GYII's own R & D Institution has studied many factors that would produce higher efficiency output for wind turbines. Historically, vertical axis turbines have been used only in residential projects or small scale personal wind projects. Advancements over the years have had many within the industry considering developing vertical axis turbines for large scale wind projects…Vertical axis turbines are powered by wind coming from all 360 degrees, and even…from top to bottom or bottom to top. Because of this versatility, vertical axis wind turbines are thought to be additionally ideal for installations where wind conditions are not consistent…"

schematic of the vertical axis concept (click to enlarge)

"GYII has focused on vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) instead of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT)…[because] tall towers and blades up to 45 meters long are difficult to transport - transportation can now amount to 20% of equipment costs…tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and skilled operators…massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox, and generator…

"…[Also,] downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence when a blade passes through the tower's wind shadow…HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades and nacelle toward the wind…in order to minimize fatigue loads due to wake turbulence, wind turbines are usually sited a distance of 5 rotor diameters away from each other…"

artist's concept of a utility-scale vertical axis turbine (click to enlarge)

"GYII's new vertical axis turbine addresses all of these challenges…Through its studies [of VAWT efficiency], it has come to the conclusion that [due to] the impact of the Earth's surface…[and] the role of the sun's magnetic field lines…a turbine's design must look at more than just 'blades meeting wind' to be exceptionally efficient…The science and technology behind [the GYII] ground-breaking vertical axis turbine will put wind energy and power output far ahead of any turbine on the market.

"Multiple intellectual property rights have been incorporated into the design of GYII's turbines and are protected through 33 patents…The successful development of the single-tower multi-set vertical turbine is a significant breakthrough in the development of wind power generation technologies. The Company is now looking at the research and development of a similar vertical axis high-power turbine with a 2 times 5MW wind generating system…The overall increase in energy produced by the vertical axis turbines…increases the company's projected revenues for each of its wind farm projects by 2 to 5 times…"