In a spin [wind turbine industry]

The wind turbine industry is growing at a rate in excess of 35% per annum, and is predicted to continue at this rate at least until 2010. But this phenomenal growth might be starting to slow down partly due to supply problems and a levelling off of horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) technology The trouble is that the developers are looking to cut costs and improve output. This means that the wind turbine manufacturers are competing to build larger, more powerful machines, but the stresses on such large structures must be close to the limits of viability. Eurowind believes that there is only a long term future in wind power if economies of scale can be realised and that the future lies in a different type of machine. The company is therefore concentrating its efforts into developing large multi-megawatt vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). In particular it is working on a vertical axis wind turbine modular unit (VAWTMU), which is a machine based on a sectional H-rotor blade configuration. Using its modular design of wind turbine, Eurowind intends to take a different approach to wind power, in particular the attachment of wind energy devices to existing structures.