Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)

Many FloWind 300kW VAWT operated for more than 20 years in California  

The 100kW and 300 kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) were commercialized by FloWind Corporation.

FloWind was founded by Dr. Y.H. Michael Pao.  From 1981 to 1986, he served as its CEO. Under Dr. Pao’s leadership, FloWind developed the 100 kW and 300 kW vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs), jointly with Sandia National Lab. The 300 kW VAWT was the largest and most cost-effective wind turbine at that time. Many of these wind turbines operated in California for over 20 years. For their contributions, FloWind and Sandia jointly received the top national award for energy innovation for 1984 from the U. S. Dept of Energy.

FloWind also developed large-scale windfarms. Under Dr. Pao's leadership, FloWind designed, manufactured, installed and operated over 500 of these VAWTs in two wind farms in California, One in Altamont Pass near San Francisco, and the other in Tehachapi Pass near Los Angeles. With a total power capacity of 170 MW (including some Danish horizontal axis wind turbines).

The following provides the Specifications and the Power Curve for FloWind 300kWr VAWT.

For offshore applications, ecoPower is improving and expanding the design of the 300kW ‘soft’ vertical axis wind turbine with modern technologies, and mounting it on a floating platform for a 500 kW Floating VAWT.