Bladeless Turbines Set to Upend the Wind Power Industry
Imagine a windmill that does not require blades to generate power. Now imagine a windmill that doesn’t even rely on blowing wind to function properly. Yes, it seems far-fetched, but bladeless turbines have generated a lot of buzz recently – and for good reason.
How Do Bladeless Turbines Work?
One of the first bladeless designs was invented by David Yanez through his company, Vortex Bladeless. The company is a 6-person startup located in Spain, and the bladeless design has recently been endorsed by Norway’s state energy company, Equinor.
The bladeless turbines are cylindrical and stand just under 10 feet high. The structure oscillates side-by-side, the movement and vibration of which is the means by which the power is generated. Thus, instead of a static structure with moving blades, you have an oscillating structure with no blades.
The main benefits of this design include the fact that it is more aesthetically pleasing, quieter, and less environmentally impactful (i.e., no risk of birds flying into the blades). It can also be built in smaller spaces, and for less money, than a traditional windmill. you also eliminate the problem of recycling wind turbine blades.
Therefore, this version of bladeless turbines can be utilized at locations that typically would be off limits, such as within urban areas or at residential homes, which supports a decentralized generation model. In other words, these bladeless turbines could become wind power’s answer to the home solar panel, and according to the inventor, both would complement each other well as wind tends to be stronger during the nighttime hours.
The technology is currently only capable of generating small amounts of power, but eventually the hope is to achieve a power capacity of at least 1 megawatt.
Since Yanez’s invention, other players have entered the market. One such company is Alpha 311, which develops vertical bladeless turbines that stand about 7 feet tall, are made from recycled plastic, and can be affixed onto street lights where they rely on passing cars to generate the wind energy. That’s right – the Alpha 311 technology doesn’t even require wind!
Another startup, SkySails, utilizes an airborne design to harness wind power in the sky. The device is basically a fully-automated kite that captures high-altitude wind, pulling a rope that is tethered to a generator on the ground that creates electricity as the kite increases its altitude.
So, are bladeless turbines here to stay? That is the million-dollar question, but at least the technology seems to be off to a good start!
