System Products · Grid, energy and industrial systems

Wind Turbine Generators

The Future of High-Power Wind Generators

Compare the three drivetrains ↓

Hyper Tech’s low AC loss MgB2 superconductors have enabled the development of all-superconducting, rotor and stator, high power 15-20 MW wind turbine generators with higher efficiencies.

The Challenge: Scaling Up Wind Energy

Harnessing wind energy provides an alternative to consumable fuel resources. Land based and offshore wind energy farms are becoming more desirable; however, larger power blades and towers are needed to meet growing demand for this power source and for the equipment to be viable offshore. Current low power (2-7 MW) wind turbine systems use a gearbox, which becomes too large and heavy as tower size and power increase.

The Risk of Permanent Magnet Generators

For higher power the offshore wind industry is pursuing the development of rare earth permanent magnet (PM) based direct drive turbine generators rated at 12-15 MW; these would weigh over 400 tons each and cost well over $5M (for a 15 MW PM based system).

The wind energy industry will be at risk if turbine technology is solely based on PM materials because over 90% of the world’s rare earth PM market is controlled by one overseas country.

The Superconducting Advantage

An alternative solution for the wind industry is wind turbine generators free of rare earth permanent magnets using superconducting (MgB2) technology.

An MgB2 superconducting direct drive generator will minimize tower size and weight by substituting heavy iron with lightweight composites and will increase the power density of the wind turbine. Equipment reliability increases because of a more simplistic generator rotor design. Another advantage of using MgB2 generators for offshore projects is that the unit could be repaired onsite without being removed from the structure.

Hyper Tech’s low AC loss superconductor wire has removed the barriers to developing an all-superconducting, rotor and stator, high power wind turbine generator that is less costly than machines based on rare earth PM material.

How it works

Three ways to turn a rotor into power

As turbines grow past 10 MW, what sits inside the nacelle decides the tower’s weight, the cost and the supply risk. Compare a gearbox drive, a rare-earth permanent-magnet direct drive and Hyper Tech’s all-superconducting MgB2 direct drive.

Swipe sideways to see the whole diagram.

Offshore wind turbine and three drivetrain options An offshore wind turbine turns. A cutaway of the nacelle shows either a gearbox driving a small fast generator, a large permanent-magnet direct-drive generator using rare-earth magnets, or a compact superconducting MgB2 direct-drive generator with a cryocooler. Power flows down the tower to a subsea cable. Subsea cable OFFSHORE WIND INSIDE THE NACELLE Rotor hub ~10 rpm Gearbox Generator ~1,500 rpm Grows too large and heavy as power rises Heavy ironrotor and stator 400+ tonnes Rare-earth magnets (red and blue) around the rotor Lightweightcomposites Cryocooler No rare earths MgB2 coils on rotor and stator Cold, low AC loss, no gearbox
Simplified illustration, not to scale and not an engineering drawing.