World’s First Wind-Hydro Turbines Work Even Without the Wind
That’s pretty impressive, even for the biggest and best of companies, and that’s exactly what German energy providers, Max Bogl AG and GE Renewable Energy are creating right now.
That’s pretty impressive, even for the biggest and best of companies, and that’s exactly what German energy providers, Max Bogl AG and GE Renewable Energy are creating right now. One of the biggest problems for wind farms has always been that it is unable to generate energy without the wind, but by combining wind turbines with hydropower technology, it’s now completely possible. The guys and girls here are looking to have theirs in operation by 2018 and will be the first of its kind.
The way in which this renewable energy plant has been designed is to continue to generate power even at times where there is no wind. The turbines themselves stand at over 580 feet tall with the bases serving as a reservoir holding 1.6 million gallons of water while the wind farm itself is surrounded by a further 9 million gallons of water in another reservoir. The whole wind farm will have the ability to generate 13.6 megawatts of energy while the hydroelectric plant can generate 16 megawatts.
In order for the wind-hydro plant to work it must be located on a hill where water can flow down freely to generate hydro electricity. Then, the water is pumped back up the hill when the energy is no longer needed. By operating in this way continuous power is produced by the turbines. Cliff Harris, GE Renewable Energy onshore wind general manager, said “Germans in this area are known as tinkerers and inventors. So the mentality of this technology fits with the population. It’s a bit risky, and it can’t work everywhere. But the plant will run for several decades, and we expect the benefits will be felt over that time.” This will certainly help Germany achieve its goal of producing 45 percent of its energy from renewables energy by 2030 and could soon lead to much more being set up all across the globe.
More News To Read
- Researchers Continue to Use Graphene to Improve Medical Technology
- 16 Secrets of Google Search Page
- Scientists Uncover Possible Anti-Aging Solution
- New Way to Harvest Wind Power Comes in the Form of Fake Trees
- YouTube is the New Black for Teens
Related Coverage
- Now Quarter Of The Earth’s Power Comes From Renewables
- New Way to Harvest Wind Power Comes in the Form of Fake Trees
- Do You Want to Install Solar Panel for Your Home, Here It is How
- Computer Scientists Create New Algorithm That’s Exponentially Faster Than Any We’ve Seen Before
- U.S. On Track for Record High Use of Renewable Energy
Don't miss new tech stories on Google
Add TrendinTech once in the Google app and our stories appear in your news suggestions.
Daniel Okafor
Daniel Okafor is the Senior AI Reporter at TrendinTech, where he covers large language models, machine learning research and the practical use of artificial intelligence across business and government. He previously reported on artificial intelligence for MIT Technology Review, covering the labs behind the current generation of frontier models and the policy debates in Washington and Brussels. Daniel holds a Master of Science in Machine Learning from Carnegie Mellon University and follows the research community closely, attending NeurIPS and ICML each year to speak with the people behind the papers. He has a particular interest in evaluation: how models are benchmarked, where those benchmarks fail and what that means for the companies betting on them.
All stories by Daniel Okafor (316)