Offshore wind farms and tidal energy facilities harness the power of the wind and the ocean – but why should we have separate turbines for each task? Offshore technology company Mitsui is developing a hybrid wind-current power generating system that combines a floating vertical-axis wind turbine with an underwater turbine that generates power from ocean currents. The clever apparatus would cut down on material waste, and it could produce twice as much energy as a conventional wind turbine.

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Post tags: floating wind turbine, Hybrid wind and ocean current turbines, Japan, Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company, MODEC, ocean currents, ocean power, offshore wind, renewable energy, tidal turbines, vertical axis wind turbine

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his British counterpart Edward Davey are set to announce a major collaboration between the two nations to develop new floating wind turbine technology. Traditional offshore wind turbines are drilled into the ocean floor, so they can only be built where waters are shallow enough to reach the bottom. Developing floating wind turbines would enable nations to tap into winds that are located in deeper waters. Under the agreement, each country will offer millions of dollars to contractors that produce demonstration projects.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "wind power", floating wind turbine, Offshore Wind Farm, offshore wind turbine, renewable energy, wind energy, wind farm, wind turbines

In an effort to harness strong high-altitude winds, the company Altaeros Energies has developed a floating wind turbine that’s a cross between a traditional windmill and a blimp. After some successful tests, the Altaeros team is confident that this new levitating wind turbine will be a viable clean energy option for remote villages and military sites.

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Post tags: "wind power", "wind turbine", Airborne Wind Turbine, Altaeros Energies, floating wind turbine, harvard, high altitude wind power, MIT, renewable energy, wind energy

The WindFlip barge concept was designed to simplify the installation of offshore wind turbines and in the process has managed to be a solution that also cuts cost. Installing offshore wind turbines can be an expensive task — the process requires skilled technicians to assemble turbines at sea, and to anchor them at great depths. Alternatively, the WindFlip barge allows turbines to be assembled completely on shore, towed to their location, and then simply tipped into place — thus minimizing the need for expensive work at sea. Check out a video of the WindFlip in action after the jump.

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Post tags: "wind turbine", floating wind turbine, green energy, Hywind, norway, offshore wind, offshore wind cost, Offshore Wind Farm, offshore wind turbine, offshore wind turbine installation, renewable energy, statoil, wind turbine barge, wind turbine cost, wind turbine installation, windflip

Vestas, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of wind turbines, has announced that it will be working in collaboration with WindPlus to deploy a unique wind turbine that uses a first-of-its-kind floating platform technology. Now, floating turbines have been deployed before, namely off the coast of Italy and Norway; in 2007, a Blue H floating wind turbine was deployed 70 miles of Italy for a year, while in 2009 Statoil (the oil company!) launched Hywind in the North Sea. So what is different about the WindPlus/Vestas turbine? Read on to find out.

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Post tags: "wind power", "wind turbine", Blue H, floating vestas wind turbine, floating wind turbine, floating wind turbines, Hywind, Offshore Wind Energy, offshore wind power, offshore wind turbine, offshore wind turbines, portugal, vestas, wind energy, wind turbines, WindFloat, WindPlus

We’ve seen some floating wind platforms in our day — like the Poseidon platform — but this new one just might overshadow them all. The WindFloat platform by Principle Power Inc. is so stable, it has the ability to hold the largest wind turbine on Earth (which is 70 meters tall and has blades the length of a football field) without flipping over. Not only are floating platforms less destructive to the environment (because they float, their bases don’t need to be secured to bedrock) but just one of these big guys has the ability to power an entire town.

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Post tags: "wind turbine", floating wind raft, floating wind turbine, new sustainable technology, offshore wind power, stable offshore wind power, sustainable energy technology, sustainable offshore windpower