In the wind

Yorkshire-based wind turbine specialists Slipstream Energy has been awarded £100,000 of funding from Yorkshire Forward to conduct research that will improve the efficiency of wind turbines.

The Leeds-based company, which is looking at ways of improving the efficiency of wind turbines operating in built-up areas, will use the research grant to complete its work in a collaboration with Leeds University.

Placing wind turbines at the point of use is a very efficient method of power generation, but has the drawback that the turbines are situated in weaker air flows because the wind blows over and around buildings.

Teaming up with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) centre at Leeds University, Slipstream's aerodynamic engineers have been analysing the performance of conventional wind turbines operating in these conditions.

This preliminary work has shown that the standard propeller type turbines often seen in large wind farms suffer significant efficiency reductions when operating in built-up environments.