What’s Up With Wyoming’s Crazy Looking Wind Turbine?

Wyoming is hosting the first utility-scale test of a unique new wind turbine, aimed at bringing low-cost electricity to more people and places across the US. If the device works as planned, it’s yet another argument in favor of electric vehicles. After all, if electricity can be plucked from the wind, the sun, or both practically anywhere in the US, who needs to deal with gasoline shortages and price spikes any more?

A Wind Turbine Unlike Any Other

The company behind the new wind turbine is Airloom Energy, a Wyoming-based startup. The company’s focus on cutting the cost of wind energy soon caught the attention of the National Science Foundation, which provided Airloom with a $225,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant in June of 2016.

“This SBIR Phase I project seeks to reduce the capital cost of wind turbines by an astounding 15x,” Airloom states on its SBIR page. “Modeling shows the result will produce power for 2.8 cents per kWh at a 7 m/sec site.”

The cost factor starts with shaving down the size of the turbine blades to a bare minimum, and it keeps going on from there. Airloom notes follow-on elements that also cut costs, including a drop in transportation, maintenance, and land costs, along with more flexibility in site selection and altitude.

“The project’s light weight, low profile, and easy, flexible set-up may also have military applications that would help secure the national defense,” Airloom adds.

Follow The Money To A Weird-Looking Wind Turbine

Much water has gone under the bridge since that first SBIR grant. The National Science Foundation added $750,000 to the pot in 2017, and the big breakthrough came in 2023 when Airloom scored a $4 million round of seed funding. The fundraiser was spearheaded by the well known Bill Gates–backed group Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with an assist from Lowercarbon Capital and MCJ Collective among others.

Last fall, an even bigger breakthrough occurred with a new $7.5 round of funding, led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Crosscut Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, Adiuvans, and the Kutnick Family Office.

The State of Wyoming also contributed $5 million to the effort through its Energy Matching Funds program last year. Additionally, Airloom nailed down a $1.25 million contract with the US Department of Defense.

Solving The Unsightliness Problem

The issue of viewscape spoilage is one of the forces driving opposition to conventional wind turbines. Airloom aims to address that with a low-to-the-ground design, in which turbine blades race around an oval track instead of rotating around a horizontal axis perched atop a high tower. All else being equal, the new approach should help knock some of the steam out of the anti-wind movement.

Wind speeds are less optimal at lower altitudes, which explains why conventional wind turbines reach as high as possible. Airloom aims to counterbalance the altitude issue with a combination of high efficiency and low costs, and it is one step closer to pulling it off. With the new funding in hand, last month the company broke ground on a new research and development site, upon which the company’s first utility-scale wind turbine will sit.

“With growing electricity needs, we need more flexible systems that can be built quickly, and deployed anywhere at large scale,” notes Airloom CEO Neal Rickner.

You can say that again. Last week the US Department of Energy set everyone’s hair on fire with a new and somewhat suspect grid reliability report (mentioned here and here), in which the agency pushed for more coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power plants to avoid “100 times” more blackouts by 2030. With the clock ticking, it will be interesting to see how much faster Airloom can get its new turbine up and running compared to conventional power plants.

Airloom has stated that its setup takes less than a year to install, and it makes a good case. The low-altitude track does not require the massive cranes and other specialized equipment needed for conventional wind farm construction, or, for that matter, any kind of conventional power plant. The nearest comparison would be to the solar industry, which has become notoriously adept at adding more clean kilowatts, more quickly, to the nation’s grid than any other power source.

“By using smaller, mass manufacturable parts made in the U.S. to simplify transportation, installation and maintenance, Airloom Energy can deploy its wind turbines at low-wind sites, those with height or viewability restrictions such as airports or military stations, or even in difficult to access mountainous areas or islands that have minimal infrastructure,” Airloom emphasizes.

The Case For EVs Is Stronger Than Ever

If all goes according to plan, the construction and evaluation phase will proceed in time to meet Airloom’s 2027 goal for commercial demonstration. The next presidential election cycle will take place the following year, potentially leading to yet another abrupt shift in federal energy policy.

It remains to be seen if the political situation is more amenable to renewable energy after 2028. In the meantime, the US refinery network is beginning to help make the case for accelerating the transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.

In the latest development, gasmobile drivers in California are likely to get another reason to ditch gas in favor of electricity. The state already leads the US in EV registrations (both raw and per capita), and a pair of refinery closures is set to push gas prices up.

“California is set to lose 17% of its oil refinery capacity over the next 12 months because of two planned refinery closures. If realized, the closure of the facilities is likely to contribute to increases in fuel price volatility on the West Coast,” the US Energy Information Agency reported on July 9.

The two impending closures are Phillips 66’s 139,000-barrel-per-day Wilmington refinery near Los Angeles and Valero’s 145,000-b/d Benicia refinery in the Bay Area. They follow the shuttering of a Phillips refinery last year, and a Marathon refinery in 2020.

As EIA points out, the lost capacity is not easily replaced. Logistical speed bumps and California’s unique gasoline blendstock requirements make it difficult for refineries elsewhere in the US to fill the gap, leading to increased dependence on imports from Asia. “Shipments of petroleum products across the Pacific Ocean will take longer to respond to market demands, meaning that unexpected shortfalls could contribute to temporary price increases or heightened volatility,” EIA warns.

Again we ask, what’s the point of shipping fuel around the world when wind and solar energy are ripe for the picking all over the US. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread.

Photo: A radically different type of wind turbine deploys small, mass-produced components to pare capital costs to the bone while squeezing more clean kilowatts out of less space (courtesy of Airloom Energy).