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EnergyNZ talks to a boat designer who says he has an innovative answer to marine power generation and is about to launch a versatile wind turbine that can be placed almost anywhere. By Alan Titchall.
“I suppose I am. I’ve already invented and patented a machine a long time ago for putting finishes on concrete floors when I was involved with an application business.” Over a career that has also involved designing yachts and boat racing technology, many of Wiig’s keel and rudder designs are now standard around the world’s racing club rules. And it is his affinity and knowledge of water that has lead to his current businesses in the design and manufacture of tidal energy turbines (under Tidal Power NZ) and a design for a radical wind energy turbine (Wind Energy NZ) that would be ideal for the small generation market and the universal problem of transmitting power generation over vast distances to consumers from the source of generation. These ‘inventions’ involve multiple patents that are still being processed, so technical details are not forthcoming, but Wiig looks at me squarely in the eye when he says “they involve huge differences” from conventional marine and wind turbine designs. Without an engineering background or any formal training in this technology, Wiig is relying on over four decades of proven skill in the world of ‘aerodynamics’ and ‘fluid-dynamics’ that began in his childhood in Napier and is based on an understanding of the power of the sea. He built his first floating device (a P Class Yacht) at the age of 10 in his father’s workshop. “All my working life I have been mixed up with airflow in sail designs and water flows in keel and rudder designs.” His interest in wind and water turbines happened by accident – literally. “I received a back injury on a cruising yacht that laid me out on my back for three months. I could see the wind generators on the back of moored yachts from my window being battered about and thought how ‘hugely inefficient’ they were. There had to be a better way to use this resource. I’m lucky, I can accurately draw on paper those concepts I construct in my head so I started to scribble down designs.” Since those days, and his back is still under-going surgery, Wiig has worked those scribbles into scale models and is up to his third generation of designs, and he couldn’t have got this far without help. “For potential investment we needed ratification of the project and I approached the academics at Auckland University. With their support and a funding grant from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology we had them complete an initial feasibility study,” he says. The initial results were mixed. “Our flow modelling of water through the turbine was confirmed, and that was exciting, however their energy extraction calculations were less than expected. Initially I was disappointed, however I realised we were covering new ground as there is no history of testing for this type of technology and no proven mathematics to apply.” And there was only so much mathematics and calculations he could do so Wiig knew he had to get a prototype made and in the water for testing. “To be fair, I made some design changes after the University findings and ended up testing two small prototypes – a ‘before’ and ‘after’ if you like. The second generation turbine proved I was on the right track and resulted in a larger eighth scale prototype being built. Having tested this we now have live test data to replace modelling and the results are extremely encouraging.” Six concentrated years have now gone into the project that involves two different water turbines (for tidal marine conditions and another for use in shallow water), and a wind generator. All turbines can be scaled up and down for any sized project. “Our immediate goal with the tidal turbine technology is to have a quarter scale turbine sufficiently advanced to be part of the initial deployment testing at Crest Energy’s 200MW marine power generation project at the entrance to Kaipara Harbour.” The Crest project was still battling through a strong current of RMA consent hearings at the time of going to press. Wiig is tight lipped over the actual design of his marine tidal turbine but says, after I raise issues over fish nurseries in the harbour region, that it doesn’t involve propellers. “Water is a medium 830 times denser than air. It doesn’t make sense to use blade technology.” Propellers take up space, he adds. “The consents for the Kaipara project, for instance, require the turbines to be submersed at least seven metres below Chart Datum, which confines the size of the turbine if you are using propeller blades.” Most of the suitable tidal flows worldwide are close to shore and in a 15-30 metre depth range so technology has to adapt design wise if it is to perform efficiently and remain unseen at these depths, he says. One of his turbines is designed for shallower water and rivers and only needs two metres of water in which to function. “I can see channel diversions from rivers, that don’t affect the natural flow of the river, that could feature a series of turbines in the race.” Another design sits on top of the water. “These are designed to handle the turbulence of rough water and storm debris. It would be possible to have farms of these floating generators on sections of large tidal rivers around the world.” The technology is ‘scaleable’ in that the turbine can be made to suit any water flow resources, from great tidal rivers to modest wastewater flows, he says. Water-based generation is ideal for the country’s rural communities as they are never far from a resource. “Water turbine technology is where wind generation technology was 25 years ago and it will also go through its inevitable growing pains and refine itself to become an important contributor to renewable energy.” Power transmission is becoming very expensive and controversial, he adds. “It just makes sense to produce energy as close to the consumption as possible.” Wiig’s design work and passion have caught the attention of the Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association (AWATEA) with planning underway for a presentation at the association’s next conference in March/May 2010, where 30 marine energy specialists from the United Kingdom will be attending. Equally as intriguing is Wiig’s wind turbine concept – a radically new design that could be placed on top of our cityscapes – on top of tall buildings and attached to existing structures such as power pylons. “They are quiet, low profile and visually non-distracting,” says Wiig. “They have no moving parts that would be visible other than the structure moving to catch the wind flow.” As with the water flow turbines, the wind turbines can be made out of recyclable materials and are ‘scaleable’. “This technology can be easily exported over the world and doesn’t require building large wind farms. These turbines would simply take advantage of existing manmade ‘high spaces’ around the world that are not being used.” All turbine designs are also modular in that they can be assembled, tested, broken down and transported anywhere and resembled on site. The marine turbines have buoyancy built into their structures so they can be towed to a site without using barges. Wiig concedes it has been a long road from those sketches he made in his head while laid out on his back to getting this far with his energy concepts and in the end the ‘proof of the pudding will be in the eating’. “You can only calculate your technology to a certain point – sooner or later you just have to grit your teeth and put it to the physical test.” Straightening his stiff back into a more comfortable position Wiig looks thoughtful. “This has been the greatest buzz I’ve had out of any project I’ve worked on. Now I’m ready to make money out of it – and that will be a bonus.”
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Graham Wiig (pictured) looks thoughtful when asked if he calls himself an ‘inventor’?