Wind Catching Systems desires to develop a floating multi-turbine system. This illustration shows what it would appear to be when deployed.
Wind catcher systems
Wind turbines, with their considerable height and sweeping blades, are perhaps essentially the most visually striking sign of the world’s transition to a more sustainable future.
Over the previous few years, major players within the sector have developed huge recent turbines, and the era of “huge scale” onshore and offshore structures appears to be just across the corner.
While these chunky kit pieces are based on a familiar design that features a tower, nacelle, and propellers, some corporations are working on recent ideas that, if built, would look very different indeed.
One of them is Wind Catching Systems. Founded in 2017 and based on the outskirts of the Norwegian capital Oslo, it is focused on the event of the so-called “multi-turbine floating wind farm”.
The overarching idea behind the Windcatcher system because it is known pertains to maximizing “energy generation from a concentrated area”. The project also includes an elevator system for turbine installation and maintenance.
The illustrations of what Windcatcher would appear to be are definitely striking, resembling a huge, water-based wall of spinning blades.
The potential scale of this phenomenon is considerable. CEO Ole Heggheim said the “big model” could be 300 meters (about 984 feet) tall and 350 meters wide.
Such an iteration, nevertheless, is a good distance off. While the big version of the Windcatcher would use 126 1-megawatt turbines, Heggheim said the planned pilot model could be “between seven and 12”, with the precise number to be determined in the subsequent few months.
There are plans to step by step increase the size. After the pilot, Heggheim said his company would “almost definitely construct a medium size, probably around 40 megawatts, before we move to large size.”
Floating technology
Floating offshore wind turbines are different from fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines that are rooted within the seabed.
One of the benefits of floating turbines is that they will be installed in much deeper water than fixed-bottomed ones, and lately the biggest economies like america, have set themselves goals related to the event of floating wind installations.
Corporations like Wind Catching Systems are beginning to attract significant sponsorship as countries and corporations around the globe strive to scale back emissions and meet net zero goals.
In June 2022, the company said it had struck a deal strategic agreement with the automotive giant General Motors and secured investments from GM Ventures.
The agreement with GM, Wind Catching Systems, was for “cooperation covering technology development, project execution, offshore wind energy policy and development of sustainable technology applications.”
More recently, in February 2023, the company announced that it had been awarded the pre-project grant in the quantity of NOK 9.3 million (roughly USD 872,500) from Enova, which is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Wind Catching Systems said the grant will “support the initial implementation of a full-scale Windcatcher.”
“With the pre-project, Wind Catching Systems will mature and validate the technology and value estimates for a full-size Windcatcher,” he added.
Bird concerns
Over the previous few years, the interactions between wind turbines and the natural world have generated a huge amount of discussion and debate, sometimes presenting obstacles in projects.
Of particular concern is the impact on birds, with the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds warning that wind farms “can harm birds through disturbance, displacement, acting as barriers, habitat loss and collisions”.
He adds that “the impact can come from a single development and multiple projects combined.”
During an interview with CNBC, Heggheim tried to spotlight how his company’s design could mitigate any risk.
“We’ve a large structure behind the turbines [and] we hope it would be a visual effect for the birds,” he said, explaining that there was also the choice of incorporating detection and deterrent systems into the structure.
“We’re hoping we are able to create something that is kinder to the birds,” he said.
A crowded field
Projects akin to Windcatcher provide insight into the event of wind energy, and a number of ideas have been proposed over the previous few years.
They include The Vortex Bladeless system, which has a cylindrical mast and doesn’t use blades, and Kitemill, which developed a design focused on kite-like system tied to the bottom. Elsewhere corporations like SeaTwirl are working on a floating vertical axis turbine.
There is excitement concerning the potential of such proposals, but there appears to be a long solution to go in terms of difficult the dominance of today’s onshore and offshore turbines.
“The role of recent turbine models and innovation in turbine design mustn’t be underestimated,” Christoph Zipf, press manager of industry organization WindEurope, told CNBC via email.
“It’s good that the wind industry continues to explore recent paths and modern solutions,” said Zipf. “But in the present situation, ‘traditional’ wind turbines, three-blade horizontal axis wind turbines, will proceed to prepared the ground.”
He added that such turbines dominate all “competing projects” in offshore, floating and onshore wind energy. “They provide the best electrical power output at the bottom price.”
Disrupting the wind energy industry is a colossal task that may require significant investment, time and patience.
Like other offshore technologies, floating offshore wind faces a number of challenges, including the incredibly harsh environment through which the turbines must operate.
Heggheim of Wind Catching Systems, nevertheless, was optimistic concerning the future. “We definitely need to be mainstream,” he said.
Whether the company’s plans will bear fruit stays to be seen, but its journey over the subsequent few months and years can be interesting to observe.