Turbine design has day in sun

By CHRIS DANIELS

New Zealand wind power technology will receive a boost today with the official opening of the prototype Windflow turbine near Christchurch.

The turbine, installed at Gebbies Pass on Banks Peninsula, was designed and built by Windflow Technologies. Chief executive Geoff Henderson says the commissioning of the turbine is a significant milestone, placing the company "firmly on the map as a serious contender in the field of sustainable energy".

The turbine has a top capacity of 500 kilowatts and will produce on average around 200 kilowatts, which Windflow says is enough to power 200 average households.

The Windflow turbine, erected in May, has finished its testing phase and will be officially opened by Energy Minister Pete Hodgson today. The Christchurch City Council has agreed to buy all the electricity produced from the turbine for the next 10 years, and lines company Orion is providing the connection to the national grid.

A rights issue will be launched soon, to raise enough money to build 10 turbines. Windflow, which raised $2.6 million in 2001 to build the prototype, has its shares quoted on the unlisted securities market.

The company owns the patent to a special gearbox system installed in the turbine, and the "pitch-regulated two-bladed teetering rotor".

Other wind turbines found in windfarms, including New Zealand's biggest, the TrustPower-owned Tararua farm, have three blades. Windflow says that its technology means its turbines can be built for half the price. * Greenpeace has released a report into the potential for wind power in New Zealand. The Winds of Change report says that use of wind energy is growing at more than 30 per cent a year. Last year, 7000 megawatts of new wind capacity was installed around the globe, which is nearly 2 1/2 times the capacity of all New Zealand's generation.

There was enough wind potential in New Zealand to provide 100,000 gigawatt hours of power a year - three times the total annual production of all generators.

Greenpeace says power company plans for wind farm expansion have been hampered by a lack of Government support in a market biased towards competitors.

Windflow Technology