TouchWind’s technology is unusual in that it consists of just one rotor blade as opposed to the standard number of three on fixed-bottom or other floating turbines.
These turbines also tilt depending on the direction of the wind, which means, the company says, they will never have to be switched off no matter how strongly the wind is blowing.
They will also reduce wind interference between turbines, the firm says, which tends to occur in large wind farms – the so-called ‘wake effect’, where turbines sited upwind can affect how much wind those downwind receive – essentially, blocking or distorting the wind before it gets there.
In May, MOL and TouchWind signalled they were going to strengthen the work they were doing together.
“We have been working together for a year now on the further development of our floating wind turbine,” said founder and CEO of TouchWind Rikus van de Klippe. “Field testing with a 6m diameter rotor is in full preparation at the Oostvoorne lake in the Netherlands. With MOL as a shareholder and their investments we can speed up our testing programme, prove our technology and reduce time to market.”
