Aquanis has been given $3.5m by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a wind turbine load control system to speed up reactions to wind changes. The system uses blade-mounted electrical actuators to alter flow over the blade's surface without the need for moving parts. (Richardson, Texas), Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.) and independent blade manufacturer TPI Composites Inc. (Warren, R.I.). A team led by Aquanis and including the University of Texas at Dallas, Sandia National Laboratories and TPI Composites will work on improving the technology. "The technology is very promising but it needs further development before we can make this commercially viable," says Dr David Smith, head of research in energy systems engineering at Sandia.
Aquanis has been given $3.5m by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a wind turbine load control system to speed up reactions to wind changes. The system uses blade-mounted electrical actuators to alter flow over the blade's surface without the need for moving parts. A team led by Aquanis and including the University of Texas at Dallas, Sandia National Laboratories and TPI Composites will work on improving the technology. "The technology is very promising but it needs further development before we can make this commercially viable," says Dr David Smith, head of research in energy systems engineering at Sandia.