Skybrators: bladeless turbines hope to reinvent wind energy

Spanish tech startup Vortex Bladeless has developed a way for wind turbines to generate energy without the need for blades and without the often harmful impacts of large wind farms.

Dubbed "skybrators" - a name which has been met with mixed reaction in various online circles owing to its phallic design and association with sex toys - the product stands 3 metres (10 feet) tall and generates wind energy through vibrations.

Read more: Denmark's Vestas to build massive 260m tall wind turbines

The green energy pioneers say its new turbine can generate wind energy without the need for blades, towers, or even wind.

The design and its creators have won a number of awards since 2012 for their innovative design and recently won the approval of Norway's Equinor, who say that Vortex is among the most exciting startups within the energy sector. The Norwegian company is set to offer support to burgeoning energy innovators through its tech accelerator programme.

David Yáñez, the company's founder, has said the primary benefit of the Vortex Bladeless is that it reduces "its environmental impact, its visual impact, and the cost of operating and maintaining the turbine.”

From the start, the company designed the turbine to be an equivalent for solar energy in terms of features and cost-effectiveness over time.

The current product’s development is focused on on-site generation, meant to work alongside other Vortex units or regular solar panels in hybrid installations.

Yáñez told The Guardian that his company were not against traditional wind farms, but they wanted to create an alternative to turbines that feature large, rotating blades, which can often present a danger to wildlife.

The RSPB has suggested wind turbines can affect animals such as birds in a number of ways, such as disturbance, loss of habitat and collision, acting as a watchdog for current wind farms and the possible environmental impacts.

The turbine supposedly oscillates at a frequency that is undetectable to humans and also does not pose as much of a threat to birds as traditional turbines do.

Yáñez added: “Our technology has different characteristics which can help to fill the gaps where traditional wind farms might not be appropriate.”

This could include applications within more urban or residential areas where traditional wind farms would be impractical.

It follows the same trend that the commercialisation of solar panels has had on personal energy generation, allowing consumers to significantly reduce energy bills by relying on self-generation.

This is a trend which has been on the rise in countries like Spain for the past few years

Read more: Self-consumption from solar power on the increase in Spain

Yáñez said: “They complement each other well because solar panels produce electricity during the day while wind speeds tend to be higher at night. But the main benefit of the technology is in reducing its environmental impact, its visual impact, and the cost of operating and maintaining the turbine.

“Today, the turbine is small and would generate small amounts of electricity. But we are looking for an industrial partner to scale up our plans to a 140-metre (460 feet) turbine with a power capacity of 1 megawatt."

Company spokesman Mike Shaw commented: “While our turbines can be placed anywhere, the optimal location is next to a highway, where they can be fitted on to existing infrastructure. There’s no need to dig anything up, as they can attach to the lighting columns that are already there and use the existing cabling to feed directly into the grid. The footprint is small, and motorways aren’t exactly beauty spots.”

Towards the end of last year, the startup announced plans to create at least 100 units by the end of 2021.

The six-man team will require significant investment before it can produce the skybrators on an industrial scale.

The company claim the turbines have " better space optimisation, response to wind changes, ROI and life-span than blades-based wind energy."

A significant market could be nations such as the UK, which has vowed to have all UK homes powered by wind energy by 2030.

Read more: Offshore wind to provide electricity to all UK homes by 2030

Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to invest £95 million (€110.9 million) into new wind ports in what he described as a "green industrial revolution."

Teeside and Humber, expected to be major industrial players in the UK within the next few decades, are said to be the main hubs for offshore wind as the UK moves towards this green transition.

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