Technology
Offshore
wind power generation attracts wide attention because it is free from such
restrictions as noise problem and scenery destruction, in addition to being
very economical. Therefore, the most economical and most efficient generation
seems to be the power plant that makes the best use of wind and tidal wave
generation systems. Mitsui Ocean Development and Engineering (MODEC) developed
a floating generation system made up of wind generation and tidal power generation. The system can increase generation efficiency and utilized
capacity, while halving the generation cost by combining the optimal revolutions
and torques of windmills and waterwheels. The output of the system is 1 MW.
The
system set up windmills on the sea and waterwheels under the sea to generate power
simultaneously by virtue of wind and tidal power. It employs vertical axis
windmills instead of horizontal axis windmills for wind generation because the
former has four times higher output per area than the latter and because the former
has higher stability than the latter thanks to its low gravity point. The
windmills are supported by a simple floating structure and anchor chains, and
neither civil work nor special ship is required.
It
employs the lift type wings of high-revolution low-torque for the windmill and the
drag type wings of low-revolution high-torque wings for waterwheels. The optimal
combination of these wings and the integrated use together with the generator
decreases opportunity loss and realizes high output. The standard ocean
generation has 20-30% utilized capacity, while the new system has 30-50%
utilized capacity. The company plans to commercialize the system toward 2014 as
a small-scale dispersion type power source for isolated islands.
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