General Electric (GE, NYSE: GE) announced today that it acquired technology from Wind Tower Systems, that can enable the company to build and ship wind energy equipment that’s more efficient, taller and longer than what it offers now.
Longer wind turbine blades, generally, capture more energy from wind. Taller towers to accommodate these blades can be difficult to ship, install and keep steady in the field, however.
According to a GE press statement, the technology it acquired from Wind Tower Systems is “space frame tower system technology” for use at wind farm sites that require hub heights of 100 meters or more. The tall towers can be shipped in standard flatbed trucks, and can be installed without heavy-lift cranes, using WTS’s “Hi Jack” systems instead.
The tall space frame towers and lifting system concepts were developed by WTS with the support of the U.S. DOE and California Energy Commission to drive lower wind energy costs. GE plans to test the technology this year, and if all goes well, make it commercially available to wind farm developers in 2012.
The General Electric Company, or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in the State of New York. In 2009, Forbes ranked GE as the world’s largest company. The company has 304,000 employees around the world. GE is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. GE has...
The Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
