Wind turbine

Windlab has announced that construction will soon start on a combined wind, solar and battery storage facility in north Queensland, Australia. Kennedy Phase I is reported to be the world’s first utility-scale, on-grid wind, solar and battery energy storage project.

Offshore wind farms can tap into the higher average wind speeds over the ocean, but can only be built in relatively shallow water. Floating turbines can help harvest wind energy from above deeper waters, and now the world’s first floating wind farm has just fired up off the coast of Scotland.

A new study has found that wind speeds over the oceans could allow offshore turbines to generate far more energy than a land-based wind farm – with the North Atlantic, in particular, theoretically able to provide enough energy for all of human civilization.

The Oklahoma panhandle will soon be home to the largest wind farm in the United States, and the second largest in the world. GE Renewable Energy and Invenergy have announced the new 2,000-MW facility will be built over the next few years as part of the Wind Catcher Energy Connection project.

One of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world has just started turning in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands. Hidden over the horizon, the Gemini wind farm isn't visible from the mainland or the neighboring islands, and is set to produce about 2.6 TWh of electricity every year.

While an outdoor adventure is a great time to switch off from the digital world, the connected camper might still want to send some snaps to social media. Battery life usually limits that luxury, but the Waterlily is a portable turbine that can harness the power of both wind and water.

A V164 offshore wind turbine from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has produced almost 216,000 kWh over a 24-hour period during tests at its site near Østerild, Denmark​ in December. In doing so, the ​9 MW prototype takes the energy generation record for a commercially available offshore wind turbine.​

Employing dual oscillating blades that mimic the figure-8 motion of the wings of a hovering hummingbird, Tyer Wind's new and quirky turbine has a compact design that's a potential fit for residential use.

The first offshore wind farm in the US has begun generating electricity about 3 miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The facility has a capacity of 30 MW and is expected to produce around 125,000 MWh of electricity annually.

​Wind farmers may soon be using swarms of drones to solve the headache of downstream wind turbulence and identify the most efficient places to plant wind turbines, thanks to a team of researchers from Switzerland.

​Owls are known for their near-silent flight, which allows them to swoop down on prey unheard. Wind turbines, though, are often accused of being too noisy. Scientists are addressing the one situation with the other, by copying the structure of owl feathers to make turbine blades more quiet.

Hitachi has developed an offshore wind turbine to milk more power from light-wind locations. The 5MW turbine features a rotor sweep diameter of 136m (446 feet), 15 percent greater than the previous model from the company, suited for areas with average annual wind speeds under 7.5 m/sec (16.7 mph).