MOST wind turbines are not efficient at Singapore’s low wind speeds. But a different kind of wind turbine, called a vertical-axis wind turbine for its upright shaft, promises to deliver more energy despite weak winds.
And it is gaining popularity here - recently, both Nanyang Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education awarded tenders to install the devices for research.
By early next year (2010), Nanyang Polytechnic plans to install a 2-kilowatt turbine which can power two rice cookers or 50 fluorescent lighting tubes, said Mr Chan Yew Meng, senior director at its school of engineering.
The school will study the turbine’s performance over time, compare it to a horizontal-axis wind turbine, and simultaneously develop ways to monitor wind speed and how well the turbine generates power.
The research will be part of a new diploma programme in electrical engineering to be launched next year (2010).
According to one local distributor, CygnusPower, their turbines can start generating electricity at wind speeds of 1.3 m per second, well below Singapore’s average of 2m/s. In comparison, horizontal-axis turbines need wind speeds of 2 to 3 m/s.
The key to CygnusPower’s efficiency is its lightweight aluminium-alloy blades, which are shaped to catch the wind, said inventor Tsuneo Noguchi, of Japan’s Nihon University.
Vertical-axis turbines are less noisy than their horizontal siblings and can run on the wind from air-conditioning exhaust fans, Professor Noguchi said.
A basic 1-kilowatt system would cost about US$9,000, not including installation costs, said CygnusPower chief executive Ong Gin Keat.
A Taiwanese competitor, iWind, also produces vertical-axis machines but with a different type of blade.
Past experiments with conventional wind turbines here have not always worked.
For example, a local entrepreneur spent $40,000 importing a 2-kilowatt wind turbine from Germany in 2006.
The project never took off, and the turbine now sits silently atop a Marine Terrace apartment block.
That doesn’t mean wind turbine researchers are merely tilting at windmills.
Small turbines at Changi Naval Base and Pulau Semakau have powered lights there in the past few years, while Danish wind-power giant Vestas put $500 million into a research centre at Fusionopolis last year (2008).
Vertical-axis turbines have their doubters, like Singapore Polytechnic’s Dr Jiang Fan of its clean-energy technology centre, who believes there is too little data available on their performance. But, he added, SP plans to test such a turbine against its existing horizontal-axis devices by the end of next year.
Nanyang Polytechnic’s Mr Chan said all forms of clean energy should be tried.
“While solar power is a solution, we don’t want to forego wind,” he said.
