When considering wind power as an energy source, it’s best to think big. Japan-based ZENA Systems is working on developing a new type of wind energy generator that will dwarf anything before it. The 50 meter-tall hexagonal building essentially acts as a huge scoop that compresses wind from all directions and then runs the rushing air through a series of ground-based generators. The ambitious project is the first of its kind, and it includes a desalination plant, on-site energy storage, and a visitors center. Details are sketchy on the viability of the design, but if it works out this wind concept could someday reach high into the sky to power our grid.
The company explains the operation as a three-point compression technique that takes wind from any direction and compresses and accelerates it through a wind tunnel in the middle of the hexagonal tower. The air flows downward to a series of turbines, which convert the wind’s energy to electricity. The company claims that the system is not constrained by the Betz limit value theory, which states that the maximum theoretical harvestable energy from the wind is 59.3 percent.
To stir the industry up even more, the design calls for on-site energy storage, which ZENA explains on their website: “The E.A.S. is a new energy storage system used to stock the energy generated by the Wind Tower system. This system uses vanadium concentrated solution diluted with nano water and pure water.” They have picked a location in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan for the massive project.