This vertical-axis floating wind turbine maker just got its first commercial order

Swedish wind turbine maker SeaTwirl announced today that it’s gotten its first commercial order for its vertical-axis floating wind turbine.

The purchase is for a new vertical-axis floating wind turbine in the North Sea.

Earlier this year SeaTwirl announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Norwegian early-phase offshore wind developer Kontiki Winds. The two companies are identifying and exploring opportunities to electrify offshore oil and gas assets (because Norway) and other offshore opportunities.

Through the MoU, SeaTwirl has secured a purchase order for developing a proposal that includes its smaller SeaTwirl wind turbine model, which is currently called S1.5.

The company says its S1 model is a 30kW floating wind turbine. It’s a smaller capacity turbine that SeaTwirl says can withstand some of the most demanding conditions in the North Sea. It’s 13 meters (43 feet) above sea level and 18 meters (59 feet) below sea level. It has a turbine diameter of 10 meters (33 feet). Multiple S1s can be placed in a dense pattern for increased output.

Offshore wind turbines are limited to a depth of about 50-60 meters (164-197 feet), and SeaTwirl says its turbines can be anchored much deeper, which means that the turbines can be sited where winds are stronger and more consistent. Its test lab S1 sits on a depth of 35 meters (115 feet).

Here’s how SeaTwirl’s vertical-axis wind turbine works:

SeaTwirl isn’t the only vertical-axis wind turbine company in Norway – in January, aluminum and energy giant Hydro and floating wind specialist World Wide Wind announced that they were going to test a vertical-axis wind turbine made out of aluminum.

Read more: Global installed wind power capacity just reached 1 TW

Photo: SeaTwirl

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