UK Wind Turbines with Stealth Technology

The UK is to develop new wind turbine technology in a project that will address the issue of radar interference, it emerged on October 22nd 2009.  Over £5 million will be invested into the project and one idea involves making the wind turbines ‘stealthy’, in effect – a potential marriage of new renewable energy source-based technologies and radar signal-evading materials used on military aircraft like the infamous Stealth Bomber (Northrop B-2 Spirit), to stop them being seen.

The project will be carried out through a collaboration involving NATS (previously known as National Air Traffic Services) and defence organisation QinetiQ.  Finances will be provided by a trio of investors, including the recently-established Aviation Investment Fund Company  and DECC – the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

UK Wind Energy

UK wind energy has the potential for future growth, but concerns over the impact on wind farms on airspace technology have hampered it to some extent.  The central issue is that of distraction – air traffic controllers being put off doing their job when wind turbines materialise on radar screens.  Lodged opposition to proposals for a number of sites is preventing more than five gigawatts of energy from being harnessed but, in some instances, approval is in place for new wind farms provided the radar issue can be overcome.

Stealth Turbines

This new project will last into 2011, and will assess methods to reduce the impact of wind turbine technology on radar to an absolute minimum.  So-called stealth turbines are one solution that will be looked into. 

The project was launched by UK Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband.

“This research and development project could resolve wind impacts on radar in the UK and potentially release 5GW of wind power”, Mr Miliband stated at the launch.  He continued: “By 2020, around a third of UK electricity needs to be from renewables, the bulk of that coming from wind.  We are making very good progress - it took the UK 14 years to build our first 1GW of wind and we’ve now passed the 4GW mark, with the last gigawatt added in just a year.”

Two months ago, Enviro-News reported on innovative new wind turbine blade technology currently being developed on both sides of the Atlantic.  These blades are a metamorphic concept aimed at optimising energy efficiency, designed to be able to change shape in response to changes in wind direction and strength.

See also:

Progress in Energy Efficient Wind Turbine Design

Funding for New Wind Turbine Design