“Low-Cost” Wind Power Demonstration Project Now Under Construction

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Wind power company Mass Megawatts has started work on a demonstration low-cost wind power system that uses “the company’s patented wind augmentation technology.”

The demonstration project will include a wind power system with the company’s patented technology and one without it.

“The Mass Megawatts’ wind augmentation system utilizes a less complicated and inexpensive wind-focusing technique to increase the wind velocity directed at the turbine by an average of 70%. This accelerated wind speed, in turn, triples the increase in the electrical power generated by the turbine,” the company writes.

The Company’s augmentation system eliminates the need for turbine structures to exceed a height of 80 feet to realize adequate wind velocity. This reduces material and installation costs while expediting zoning approval in many locations. Additionally, the augmenter technology makes it possible for turbines to operate profitably in lower wind-speed locations.

Using horizontal or propeller type turbine blades, the cost per rated kilowatt is projected to be less than $1000 and anticipated to approach $600 in mass production. This compares very favorably with traditional wind power systems that realize a cost of $1500 to $2000 per rated kilowatt.

If all the information above is correct and this company isn’t pulling our legs, that sounds mighty promising.

I don’t see any independent verifications of the claims above on the Mass Megawatts site, and the design is clearly looks quite a bit different from typical wind turbines. I can’t say I’m convinced the system is revolutionary, though. But what do I know — an engineer want to chime in with your opinion on this?

For a little more food for thought, perhaps, here’s a video on the technology:


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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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