Magenn Power: flying wind turbine
published: 06/05/06, 20:31
Wind turbines can be efficient structures for producing renewable energy. But their size of a few tens of meters does not allow them to capture the strongest winds, circulating at a high altitude. Hence the idea of the American company Magenn Power, based in Ontario: to design an individual wind turbine, a kind of inflatable balloon escaping into the air.
The company is working on the prototype of a turbine trapped in an airship filled with helium, the Air Rotor System, which can float up to 300 meters above sea level.
This surprising idea, to say the least, is the brainchild of Fred Ferguson, an aeronautical engineer specializing in the construction of airships. "In 2002, after the crisis that had plunged California into darkness, many people were looking for new ways to produce electricity. It was from that moment that I started my research," explains the inventor.
The latter already imagines that his product could respond to problems of electricity production in developing countries or be a backup solution in the event of a natural disaster.
The Air Rotor System is an airship whose shape resembles that of a water mill. The blades are driven by the breath of the wind and rotate on a horizontal axis. Generators integrated into the airship transform the energy of this movement into electricity, as in a traditional wind turbine. The cables holding the structure also transmit electricity to the ground.
Could these wind turbines floating at 300 meters above sea level hinder airspace? Fred Ferguson specifies that each balloon will be equipped with materials allowing planes to detect it. A series of tests has already been carried out and a first prototype is being finalized. And already, Krystal Planet, an American company from Kansas specializing in renewable energies, has signed an agreement to distribute by the end of the year a first version of the flying wind turbine, with a power of 4 kilowatt hours. .
For the company, the main advantage of the Air Rotor System is its potential price (just under 8 euros), much lower than that of conventional wind turbines. This generator would produce around 400 euro cents per kilowatt hour, according to company estimates.
Vivien Vergnaud
Article published in the 07.05.06 edition of Le Monde