Wind firm Aquanis lands $3.5m to develop new turbine tech

It will use plasma actuators to mitigate unsteady wind loads

Wind technology developer Aquanis has been awarded $3.5 million (£2.7m) in funding from the US Department of Energy to develop innovative blade technologies.

The company will use the funding to develop a segmented active load control system allowing turbines to react more quickly to changes in the wind.

It says its blade-mounted plasma actuators extend turbine service life and enable the design of larger, more efficient machines – these are necessary to reduce the cost of wind energy.

The actuators aim to mitigate unsteady loads on turbine blades, caused by wind gusts and turbulence, without using costly mechanical components or moving parts.

Aquanis Founder and CEO Neal Fine, said: “Aquanis is committed to helping the wind industry continue the historic improvement in turbine technology, which is key to reducing the cost of wind energy and increasing wind penetration in the grid energy market.”

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