Enova has pledged to help finance an innovative offshore wind turbine being developed by Sway (Norway), with NOK 137 million. The new wind turbine, which is to have 10 MW of capacity, is going to help reduce the costs of producing electricity from wind energy. The funding provided by Enova will help Sway install the 10 MW unit in Øygarden, where the turbine will operate for two years on land, even though it is planned for offshore installation and operation. This period will be used to collect performance data, as well as assess the behavior of the new wind turbine in severe operating conditions.

The new mega-turbine will be 145 meters tall at the vertical most position of the rotor. As many as 35-40 engineers have been working on the concept that will soon undergo testing.

The wind energy industry is moving towards bigger and better, and that's only logical, because if various world regions are going to achieve a switch towards renewable energy, a very large amount of renewable energy capacity, in this case wind, will have to be installed in order to compensate for the reduction of fossil fuel power generating capacities. Big wind turbines, such as Sway's 10 MW unit, or Clipper Wind's Brittania, are going to help make this happen. We are sure things won't stop there, though.

[source: Sway, via: Renewable Energy Focus]