Magenn Finally Floats

Posted by Big Gav in magenn, wind power

I mentioned the Magenn airborne wind power idea a while ago - TreeHugger reports they have been making slow progress since then and have finally got a working prototype floating in a hangar - Magenn Air Rotor System Finally Floats.

New ideas always take twice as long and cost twice as much as one hopes when first envisioned; when we were among the first to cover the Magenn air rotor system (MARS) back 2005, it was projected that units would be available in 2006. Three years later, the first full scale version is floating in an airship hangar in North Carolina. Pierre Rivard, CEO of Magenn tells Tyler Hamilton that "This is an historic moment...This is a world’s first, there has never been a rotating airship test done before."

The prototype will be moved to an outdoor location for further testing, and then by four demonstration projects. They are now concentrating on the larger 100Kw model for remote industrial sites; the small 4Kw model for campers and cottages has been put on the back burner for now.

According to the Elizabeth City Daily Advance, home of the TCOM airship hanger:

Pierre Rivard, president and CEO of Magenn, said the MARS is intended as a renewable energy source for industrial customers seeking to replace diesel generators or who need to use energy in remote locations.

"We see our product as creating new demand for wind, as opposed to tapping into" the current wind-energy market, Rivard said.

2 comments

SP says 2:44 AM

That picture is misleading.
It shows that at 120 m conventional turbines generate 5 MW but the MARS at 320 m generates 2-1000 something KW.

So why is it better?
Is it, a la skysails that the available wind is better and more widely distributed at higher altitudes?

Big Gav says 11:10 AM

Yes - the idea is that (in general) higher altitude winds are stringer and more reliable...