A giant wind turbine design that mimics the spiralling motion of a sycamore seed could revolutionise the wind power industry.

British engineers are working on a design for the Aerogenerator which would rotate on its axis and would measure nearly 900 feet from tip to tip, generating up to 10MW.



News of the design comes after Lib Dem Energy Secretary Chris Huhne signalled a dramatic increase in the number of wind farms to be built in Britain – as he said there was no money in the pot to pay for nuclear power stations.

One of the designs for the Aerogenerator, which will be capable of creating 10MW of power and spins on its axis

Engineering firm Wind Power is developing the Aerogenerator with architects Grimshaw, academics at Cranfield University and is also working with Rolls Royce, Arup, BP and Shell on its revolutionary design.

Those behind the design say that it could expanded to produce turbines that generated 20MW or more of power.



Scaling up the diameter of a conventional wind turbine would produce far more power from each device but would make them extremely heavy so engineers are now looking at ways of adapting the design to make them more efficient.

The Aerogenerator has two arms jutting out from its base to form a V-shape, with rigid 'sails' mounted along their length. As the wind passes over these they act like aerofoils, generating lift which turns the structure as a whole at roughly three revolutions per minute.

The first Aerogenerator could be up and running by 2013.

A graphic which shows the different heights of wind turbines under development

Other firms are also in the race to design new type of wind turbines that are able to generate up to 10MW of power. Wind power firm Clipper has already announced plans to build giant Britannia wind turbines which would tower almost 600 feet above the North Sea.

Feargal Brennan, head of offshore engineering at Cranfield University, where work on the Aerogenerator is taking place, said: ‘Upsizing conventional onshore wind turbine technology to overcome cost barriers has significant challenges, not least the weight of the blades, which experience a fully reversed fatigue cycle on each rotation.



'As the blades turn, their weight always pulls downwards, putting a changing stress on the structure, in a cycle that repeats with every rotation – up to 20 times a minute.



‘In order to reduce the fatigue stress, the blade sections and thicknesses are increased which further increases the blade self-weight. These issues continue throughout the device.



'Drive-train mountings must be stiff enough to support the heavier components inside the nacelle on top of the tower, otherwise the systems can become misaligned and the support structure is also exposed to extremely large dynamic thrust and bending stresses, which are amplified significantly with any increase in water depth.’

Offshore wind power is seen as being more palatable option for renewable energy than land-based turbines as there is less public opposition.



Theo Bird of Wind Power Limited said: ‘Offshore is the ideal place for wind power but is also an extremely tough environment.



'The US wind researchers who worked on vertical axis projects have always regarded the technology as great to work with at sea because it can be big, tough and easily managed.'



Mr Huhne said a boom in onshore and offshore wind turbines is needed to help the country meet its target to obtain 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

He indicated that plans for hundreds more wind farms would be pushed through – but admitted they are ‘not always as popular as you might hope’ in locations where they are proposed.



Britain has 253 onshore wind farms and 12 offshore developments, which face fewer planning issues.

Yesterday Mr Huhne said there was ‘no money’ for the state to subsidise new nuclear power – and that turbines were ‘incredibly competitive’ in producing electricity

Many Tory backbenchers are Patrick Mercer’ across them. opposed to wind farms. The Conservatives favour instead a new generation of nuclear power stations – but the Lib Dems are opposed and can abstain from a parliamentary vote on the issue.

Mr Huhne identified the Dogger Bank area off the east coast of Yorkshire as a prime location to build new offshore wind turbines. ‘It’s relatively cheap to put turbines in that shallow area,’ he added.



He admitted it would be ‘quite a stretch’ for Britain to rely only on renewable sources.

