ABB has helped a European renewable energy company develop an award-winning wind turbine for urban environments that helps make towns and cities more sustainable and consumers more energy efficient.
By ABB CommunicationsDesigned and manufactured by quietrevolution of the U.K., the QR5 wind turbine has already won eight awards and nominations as well as the attention of the world media, including the BBC, CNN, Financial Times and MSNBC.
ABB conducted extensive tests in the U.K. and Finland, helped ensure that the turbines comply with the requirements of grid operators and government legislation, and proposed an appropriate permanent magnet generator.
A standard ABB industrial regenerative drive enables the turbine to generate the maximum amount of energy at all times and in rapidly changing wind speeds.
“The drive allows us to switch seamlessly from regeneration to drawing power, as well as giving accurate speed control,” says Richard Cochrane, quietrevolutions’s founder and chief technology officer. “This produces the maximum amount of energy from gusty and turbulent winds, which are prevalent in built-up environments.
“Another useful feature of the ABB drive are the simple communications protocols, which are a cost-effective way to control and report on the performance of the system via our web interface,” says Cochrane.
ABB is the world’s leading supplier of power and automation equipment and solutions for the wind power industry, and is the market and technology leader in low- and medium-voltage AC and DC drives.
Source: ABB