The Guardian

London, July 18:

Think of wind power and the first image to spring to mind is most likely a giant, three-bladed propeller spinning atop a slim tower, probably in a rural area. Chances are that’s actually the only image that springs to mind - and that’s a problem. To renewable-energy supporters, the wind turbine symbolises the hope of a green, clean future, but to opponents, they might as well be Martian tripods from Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, advancing inexorably across our precious countryside. With Britain’s plans for new wind farms proceeding apace in an effort to meet the target of 10 per cent renewable-sourced energy by 2010, the debate has reached critical levels. Anti-wind farm groups have been springing up wherever wind farms are proposed; some opponents say they would rather have a nuclear power station in their backyard than see Britain’s rural landscape covered in propellers on sticks. And as long as propellers on sticks are the only option, pro- and anti-wind farm camps are unlikely to ever agree.

The debate is clearly as much about the aesthetics of wind power as the politics and practicalities but, at present, wind turbines barely rank above electricity pylons in terms of aesthetic consideration. Members of the design community are beginning to rise to the challenge, however, either by finding better places to put wind turbines or by making them better looking. One of the most striking new projects rethinks the idea of the turbine entirely. It is called an Aerogenerator and it looks nothing like a propeller on a stick; more like a cross between a glider and a giant harp, or perhaps a James Bond villain’s mid-ocean hideout.

Designed by Grimshaw Architects in association with Windpower Ltd, the Aerogenerator is arguably the first wind-turbine design to capture the spirit of pioneering optimism that these structures ought to express. It could also be a very practical option, especially since it would be situated offshore, far away from anyone’s backyard.

While conventional turbines rotate on a horizontal axis, the V-shaped Aerogenerator, which would be as tall as the London Eye, spins on a vertical axis, like a record. At three revolutions per minute, one machine could generate up to nine megawatts of electricity, compared with an average of 2MW from conventional turbines. The Aerogenerator is descended from what’s known as a Darrieus rotor, which resembles an egg whisk in shape, and works something like a sideways water wheel. It was invented by a Frenchman in the 1930s, and developed extensively in the US and Canada in the 1970s. Unlike horizontal-axis designs, vertical-axis turbines can harness wind energy from any direction, and because the moving parts and the generator are at ground level, they are easier to maintain. But building them on a giant scale presented major engineering difficulties, particularly in terms of stability. What the Aerogenerator does in effect is reproduce the effect of a Darrieus rotor, but with much greater stability. Which means that you can build a much bigger turbine without the danger of it tipping over.

“Our engineer thought about the problem and basically took it to pieces and put it back together,” says Theo Bird, founder of Windpower Ltd, who is funding the project through a combination of a government grant and the money he was saving to buy a new house, “By being much larger, you can afford to build offshore, where there’s more wind. Twelve wind farms of 100 units would meet the UK government’s 10 per cent target for renewable sources. And in the future, you could possibly double the power from each turbine by harnessing tidal power beneath the surface.” “Also, from an architectural point of view,” adds Grimshaw’s Eoin Billings, “we saw it as an iconic element that could go in the entrance of a harbour or an industrial area. It doesn’t have to be invisible.” The Aerogenerator was originally included in Grimshaw’s proposal for the redevelopment of Las Palmas in Tenerife, but the project now has a life of its own. A prototype is about to be tested, and if all goes well, the turbine should be relatively straightforward to produce, in three to five years’ time.