Rugged durable small wind turbine for powering telecom towers residential buildings in extreme weather conditions areas

Informations projet

Njord

N° de convention de subvention: 806844

DOI

10.3030/806844

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 5 Mars 2018

Date de début 1 Avril 2018

Date de fin 31 Juillet 2020

Financé au titre de

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Coût total

€ 2 486 085,00

Contribution de l’UE

€ 1 740 259,50

Coordonné par

ICEWIND EHF
Iceland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Njord (Rugged durable small wind turbine for powering telecom towers residential buildings in extreme weather conditions areas)

Période du rapport: 2019-04-01 au 2020-07-31

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

Extreme weather conditions (i.e. strong and unsteady winds, icing, etc.) - that countries such as Iceland and the other four Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland), the UK, Ireland, Canada´s Prairies, Northern US, Russia, and Nigeria along with high altitude sites face - make traditional wind turbines (horizontal-axis) to spin out of control resulting in catastrophic system failure in the first year of operation. As a result, these locations needed a different kind of wind technology capable of working over a wide production range (whether it’s in the stormy afternoon, in hurricanes or on calm and icy winter nights in the range of -10 to -30 °C) with minimum maintenance. IceWind has therefore identified a business opportunity for a rugged and durable VAWT intended for extreme wind conditions with a power capacity range between 100W to 1,000W and focused on on-site small applications that require a continuous 100% green energy source of reduced carbon footprint and will bring down energy bills of customers through self-generation and consumption. The excellent match of aerodynamics and materials give our NJORD turbines unique features such as optimal structural stability, strength, and hence durability to withstand the most extreme wind conditions. Our VAWT can produce electricity at very low wind speeds, as well as spin elegantly, non-stop and noiseless at high speed winds. As for our commercial strategy, we plan to respond: 1) directly to individual end-users of isolated areas for residential applications (i.e. cabins, homes, and small farms) mainly in Iceland and other EU countries (i.e. the other four Nordics, the UK, and Ireland) and 2) owners of telecom towers worldwide.

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

Technical summary
Over the course of two years IceWind has managed to design, test and improve a hybrid micro vertical axis wind turbine made from a combination of Darrieus and Savonious blade technology. By doing so IceWind managed to create a high efficiency self-regulating micro vertical axis wind turbine that is suitable to the harshest weather condition in the Nordics. The applications range from telecom systems to seismic sensors and weather stations in harsh climates. The turbines range from 100W-1000W, an RW type for telecom and a CW type for residential.
A prototype of a charge controller was made but that is the first time Icewind ever to managed to do that. The controller was used for RW100 prototypes with good results.
Icewind managed to make various other steps forward like destructive testing, performance increases, hydrophobic coating for blades, non-contact seals for generator and multiple fastening options for the turbine, ground based or otherwise.

Commercial Summary
Icewind has always had a lot of attention on social media since the team started to release photos from trials and development after the patents for the turbines had been secured. About 5-10 e-mails arrive in the inbox every day requesting the telecom solution or the residential. The social media presence of the company has increased significantly and fallowers or Facebook have gone over 6500.
During this project Icewind has put a lot of effort into market research to narrow down and be able to focus on the market segments that offer the highest potential. Therefore, identifying the telecom sector and micro off-grid data collection systems. Both of which have been seeking solution in the arctic.
We have attended and participated in different fairs, conferences and accelerator programs related to the new efficient energy and technology. In some cases, we went to find parts that we needed, talk to technicians and explore new technologies in the energy sector. Examples are, Fully Charged, PowerGen, Launch Alaska and Hannover Messe Technical expo.

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

Many of the interested parties that Icewind has spoken to would like to opt for a testing phase of 1-2 years before purchasing units. This is a wonderful opportunity for Icewind to work with customers, test the units and collect data as well. However, this comes with the added complexity that Icewind will not be making sales during these testing periods. From a financial stand point, Icewind will be increasing manufacturing and material costs to produce these test units but will not have sales generated and therefore, will not have revenue during these testing years.
Another area that could be of potential concern is the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) produced by the Icewind turbines may not be cost effective however, this depends entirely on the average wind speeds in the installation location. The Icewind turbine is a high efficiency energy generation unit and therefore this should not be a concern however, it is worth noting and considering the annual kWh generation depends on location. As a result, feasibility studies and wind data will be collection on location before installations occur to ensure location is being optimized to reduce the LCOE.
Off-grid micro energy systems today are being powered with wind, solar and Diesel. Sadly, Diesel being the most common choice for off-grid telecom solutions in challenging environments. Not only can the turbines offset the cost of running a diesel engine but also reduce the carbon footprint which is not only important for the owner of the system but all of us in the battle of global warming. Interest in micro wind is also on the rise and with the CW turbine where IceWind has put a special emphasis on the aesthetics has caught a lot of attention and made the public think differently about wind energy harnessing.

RW turbine

CW turbine