A ‘spinning’ turbine which can capture wind travelling in any direction and could transform how consumers generate electricity has won its two student designers a prestigious James Dyson award.

Nicolas Orellana, 36, and Yaseen Noorani, 24, both MSc students at Lancaster University, have created the O-Wind Turbine which – in a technological first – takes advantage of both horizontal and vertical winds without requiring steering.

Conventional wind turbines only capture wind travelling in one direction, and are notoriously inefficient in cities where wind trapped between buildings becomes unpredictable, making the turbines unusable.

In 2015 the controversial “Walkie Talkie” skyscraper on London’s Fenchurch Street was thought responsible for creating a wind tunnel which knocked down shop signs and even toppled pedestrians.

Using a simple geometric shape, O-Wind Turbine is designed to make the most of multi-directional wind, generating energy even on the windiest of days. The turbine is a 25cm sphere with geometric vents siting on a fixed axis. It spins when wind hits it from any direction. When wind energy turns the device, gears drive a generator which converts the power of the wind into electricity. This can either be used as a direct source of power or fed into the electricity grid.

The students hope the turbine – which could take at least five years to be put into commercial production – will be installed on large structures such as the side of a building or balcony, where wind speeds are at their highest.

Orellana first became interested in the challenge of multidirectional wind after studying Nasa’s flawed Mars Tumbleweed rover. Six feet in diameter, the inflatable ball was designed to autonomously bounce and roll like tumbleweed across Mars’s surface to measure atmospheric conditions and geographical location.

But like traditional wind turbines, it was powered by unidirectional wind blows which severely impaired the rover’s mobility when faced with obstructions, often throwing it off course and ultimately resulting in the failure of the project.

By exploring the limitations of the Tumbleweed, Orellana and Noorani were able to develop three-dimensional wind turbine technology. They then identified how cities could use this technology to harness energy to produce electricity.

“We hope that O-Wind Turbine will improve the usability and affordability of turbines for people across the world” said Orellana. “Cities are windy places but we are currently not harnessing this resource. Our belief is that by making it easier to generate green energy, people will be encouraged to play a bigger own role in conserving our planet. Winning the James Dyson award has validated our concept and given us the confidence to approach investors to secure the capital we need to continue to turn our idea into a reality.”

Prof Harry Hoster, director of energy at Lancaster University, said: “When the two students first approached us about test facilities for a new wind turbine design, we thought it would just be the 23rd variation of some plain vanilla system. When they humbly showed their video and their prototype, however, we were – excuse the pun – blown away.

“Only holding it in your hands and playing with it gives you a chance to understand what their new device actually does and how, if things go right, its ability to capture any random breezes will take urban energy harvesting to another level.”

Wind power currently generates just 4% of the world’s electricity but it could produce up to 40 times the amount of electricity consumed, Noorani said.

The duo’s invention will now be entered into the international running for the final leg of the James Dyson award in November, which will give the overall worldwide winner a further £30,000 in prize money.

The award operates in 27 countries, and is open to university level students and recent graduates studying product design, industrial design and engineering. It recognises and rewards imaginative design solutions to global problems with the environment in mind.