Using wind energy on a small scale

Wind energy plants are actually getting ever bigger and taller. After all, hub heights of around 100 metres with corresponding rotor diameters create good conditions for maximum and increasingly constant wind energy collection. But the opposite trend is also occurring – for example, the micro wind turbines from quietrevolution, a company in which RWE Innogy has acquired a minority share through its venture capital activities.

Although the wind energy collected by these small turbines is lower than that of their big sisters, they make wind power useful where it is needed – in the middle of the city. Be it in front of a company gate or on the roof of an office building – the small wind turbines can be operated wherever the wind blows. With their spiral-shaped vanes and horizontal rotation axis, they are able to collect wind from all directions and also cope well when the wind direction changes frequently. Virtually without any sound, they can currently generate up to 7,500 kilowatt hours of power per year, depending on location. This is around ten percent of the average energy demand for a 600 square meters office building.

Facts & Figures

Micro wind turbines are still a rarity in German and European townscapes, but this could change. The aim of our involvement is to make micro wind turbines, which are currently only sold in the United Kingdom, commercially viable in Germany as well. We have already taken an important step towards reaching this goal with the installation of the first German test site on the roof of Essen Technology and Development Centre (ETEC) last year.