Sponsored by
‘Invention boosts
turbine energy’
A wind farm in Sussex
EASTBOURNE inventors are pioneering technology which could revolutionise green energy across the country.
Business partners Colin Amess and Ian Casselden have developed a way of maximising wind-power efficiency.
They were awarded a patent for their wind turbine control system in November and are in advance talks to see their invention rolled out across the country.
Their innovative system allows turbines to capture up to 30 per cent more energy than they currently do.
Managing director of CA Microsystems, Mr Amess, and MD Mr Casselden, of Interface Devices, say improvements could reduce in the region of 195,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions a year if the device was used throughout Britain.
Mr Amess, who has 35 years’ experience in electronics, said, “Power extraction capacity increases of up to 30 per cent can be achieved from wind turbines by controlling the turbines so they constantly operate at their optimum wind energy extraction efficiency.
“Our technology makes it possible to achieve a significant uplift in the levels of wind energy that can be harvested by allowing them to operate safely and efficiently over an extended wind speed range.”
The ‘closed loop control system’ allows wind turbines to work more efficiently in both low and high winds. With current technology, turbine blades struggle to work at all in low winds as they try to respond to National Grid demands – the higher the demand the slower the blade is forced to rotate and in light winds the blades cannot rotate at all meaning potential energy is lost.
However, with the revolutionary control box wind turbines rotate at a speed which forces the blade to rotate at optimum speed.
Stephen Lloyd MP said, “The Coalition Government is utterly committed to expanding green industries across the UK. Being the sunniest town in the UK, next to the sea and having a high proportion of local firms involved with green initiatives such as solar power and home insulation, Eastbourne is perfectly placed to be a green hub. Colin Amess’ proposal to make wind power more efficient is certainly something I would be very happy to support.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Eastbourne
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.