US start-up debuts gas-powered wind turbine

A new hybrid wind turbine system that uses a gas generator as backup for unreliable wind energy could solve one of the biggest challenges faced by wind farms, according to US start-up Hybrid Turbines.

The company's SmartGen system, which was launched yesterday, tackles the issue of intermittent wind by burning biogas or natural gas to spin wind turbine generators even when the wind is not blowing. The gas-powered system uses a ground-based turbo-compressor to compress air that then drives a turbo air motor directly connected to the generator.

Wind turbines typically operate about 30 per cent of the time as a result of intermittent or slow winds. Hybrid Turbines hopes its system will be incorporated into new wind turbine designs, as well as retrofitted to existing turbines, allowing them to potentially generate power at their rated capacity almost all the time.

"The 35GW of installed wind power capacity in America could be producing grid power around the clock," the company said.

If biogas is used to drive the generator, the turbine retains its renewable energy status, but even if natural gas is used, the electricity produced is still twice as environmentally clean as burning coal, Hybrid Turbines claimed.

The company is targetting both the onshore and offshore market. However, the design can currently only scale up to support 4MW turbines, meaning that it would not be suitable for many of the 5MW turbines expected to come on the market in the next decade.

The new gas-powered system mirrors that already used by a number of solar thermal projects where gas generators have been fitted to drive the turbines overnight or when weather conditions are cloudy.