Jason Ford

Artemis Intelligent Power awarded MacRobert Award

News

A British company that has developed a novel technology combining hydraulics with electronics said to be capable of reducing the cost of offshore wind energy has won the MacRobert Award, the Royal Academy of Engineering’s most prestigious prize.

Artemis Intelligent Power received the award last night from HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. The company’s technology can also be used to reduce the fuel consumption of trains and make hybrid buses more affordable.

But it is offshore wind power where the Edinburgh firm could make the most impact. Although Britain could generate 8-10% of its energy from this source by 2020, and already provides 15 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year, the cost of the technology makes its deployment challenging.

A single offshore wind turbine with power output of 3.5MW can power around 3,300 households. Vast numbers are therefore required for even a small city. The company states that by increasing the capacity, efficiency and reliability of each one, these problems could be significantly reduced.

Its Digital Displacement system combines hydraulics with analogue control with a system of digital microcontrollers that switch each individual cylinder on and off in real time as the shaft rotates. This combines the advantages of hydraulics – high power density, compactness, and low cost – with the efficiency of electric technology.

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