A Bill Gates-backed startup's plans to revolutionize wind energy are taking flight after receiving $13.75 million in funding to develop a pilot project in Wyoming, as Interesting Engineer details.
Airloom Energy announced the recent windfall, featuring investors including Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the State of Wyoming, in a press release. They also divulged their plans to demonstrate that their groundbreaking turbine design can generate wind energy at a third of the cost of traditional horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs).
The problem Airloom hopes to address is the growing size and complexity of HAWTs, which they say are continually getting more expensive due to supply chain issues and interest rates. The increasingly huge turbines that stretch up to 50 stories high also require specialized materials, complicated transportation, and a huge quantity of concrete, per Interesting Engineering.
The company says that past attempts to unseat HAWTs "didn't have the right combination of high energy production, low capital costs, and system sturdiness."
In contrast, Airloom claims their turbines feature a "simple, mass-manufacturable design that enables higher energy density and a smaller visual footprint without the massive infrastructure that conventional turbines require." Last year, the startup shared a video on YouTube showcasing their turbine tech and highlighting its advantages.
As Interesting Engineering explains, the biggest difference between Airloom's prototype and conventional HAWTs is subbing out the typical three spinning giant blades on a tower for around a dozen 82-foot high poles to support a track of 33-foot-long vertical wings. When in motion, the wings go around the track, giving the visual effect of cars navigating a racetrack.
The design generates comparable energy while using far fewer materials, which cuts down on installation and manufacturing costs. It also simplifies transportation with parts that can be delivered on standard tractor-trailers, as opposed to requiring large and costly cranes.
Airloom's potential innovations in wind energy are another encouraging step for the fast-growing clean energy sector. As the world is looking to move away from dirty energy that warms the planet to dangerous levels, wind power is growing rapidly and evolving quickly. Wind energy has celebrated milestones in the U.S. and Great Britain, as it gains and passes fossil fuels.
Floating offshore wind is one major advancement that is allowing for more possibilities, especially for countries like Japan with geographical challenges. Typhoon-proof turbines like OceanX's, which recently withstood 139 mph winds, are another promising development that show the growing resilience of the tech.
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Still, many of these advancements are resulting in ever-larger, expensive and more complicated turbines. That's why Airloom's game-changing turbine design could make a huge difference in the cost-effectiveness and practicality of wind everywhere.
CEO Neil Rickner said in the release, "Airloom's technology offers a breakthrough in reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy while addressing the supply chain challenges that have long hindered the wind sector."
"With a focus on efficiency, scalability, and sustainability, Airloom is positioned to become a key player in the future of renewable energy," he added.
The earliest test of that will be in the summer of 2025, when the company breaks ground on the project in Wyoming.
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