Think of a wind turbine and you’ll probably picture a tall vertical pole with three long blades spinning at the top. These traditional turbines were modeled after 17th-century Dutch windmills, but for Norwegian company Wind Catching Systems, they’re not quite right for the 21st century.
The company’s ingenious system, called Wind Catcher, consists of about 126 small wind turbines mounted on a grid. A winner in the Sustainability category of this year’s Innovation by Design Awards, the system is 1,000 feet tall and designed to float in deep waters, where winds are much stronger. When the system becomes operational in 2024, it could radically improve offshore wind technology, delivering five times the annual energy of the world’s largest single turbine. That’s because the system is three times taller than the average turbine (exposing the rotor blades to higher wind speeds), but with smaller blades (which can perform more rotations per minute and generate more energy).
In June, Wind Catching Systems received $10 million in funding from General Motors, which will also help them build a supply chain and mass produce the technology. “The turbine system today is a very complicated machine,” says Ole Heggheim, CEO of Wind Catching Systems. “We’re trying to make it as uncomplicated as possible.”
This article is part of Fast Company’s 2022 Innovation by Design Awards. Explore the full list of companies creating products, reimagining spaces, and working to design a better world.
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