A 92-year-old man from Saxony has devised a special wind turbine concept. Yield could increase by 3x compared to current models. The next step is to create a 350 meter high prototype. There should also already be talks with interested parties from the economy.

Tripod wind turbine should enable high yields

The 92-year-old engineer Horst Bendix from Leipzig has actually been retired for over 25 years. But that didn’t stop the former head of research at the heavy machinery manufacturer Kirow from continuing to work on new solutions. Now he’s got it Patent secured for a tripod wind turbine, with which significantly higher yields should be possible. The wind harvest is to take place at previously unattainable heights.

After the patent, a prototype is now being tackled, which is said to already have interests from business. For the planned system, the engineer relies on a tripod construction, in which not a single generator is at the top, as is usually the case, but several can be found at the foot of the complex. This is intended to reduce harmful bending forces, allowing the wind turbine to grow to a height of 350 meters, where the wind yield is significantly higher.

Bendix also wants to tackle another problem with its system. She shouldn’t remain rigid, but herself rotate automatically with the wind direction. A more constant generation of energy can be achieved in this way (source: MDR).

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New wind turbine: Up to 30 gigawatt hours possible?

According to Falk Zeuner from Terrawatt GmbH, the planned high-altitude wind turbine could “beyond 20 to 30 gigawatt hours per year” to produce. The yield would therefore be twice or three times as high as with comparable systems. 20 gigawatt hours of electricity corresponds to the consumption of 6,000 three-person households per year. The wind turbine from Bendix could supply up to 18,000 such households – if it proves to be practical.