Firm After Cheaper Wind Power Wants To Build A Better Turbine
Resource from: GRISWOLD Likes:123
Jun 20,2014
To Jim Bardia, the path to a better wind turbine is the same as the one to a faster race car.
It is incremental improvements here and there that shave seconds from a lap time and cents from a kilowatt hour.
Bardia, a former race car driver and engineer who has put six years into small-scale wind technology, says he found his way to that better turbine. He and his colleagues at Change Wind Corp., who boast at least a dozen national auto racing championships between them, have one that they say will make electricity at a third of the price it would be from the grid.
At that price, wind power would compete viciously with fossil fuels.
Wind power accounts for 4 percent of the United States' electricity consumption, though it still relies on production and investment tax credits. The turbine from Change Wind proposes to make money for users before adding in state and federal clean energy incentives.
"There will be a day when there are no more subsidies," Bardia says while walking through his 200,000-square-foot Jewett City plant that once housed the Aspinook Bleachery, a textile mill, and Wyre Wind, a wire company. He expects the factory to be up and running as early as the first quarter of next year.
The Change Wind Corp.'s 36-kilowatt turbine spins on a vertical axis, unlike a horizontal pinwheel-style wind turbine. Its four blades wrap around a central shaft that holds a generator and other equipment. It runs at lower wind speeds and catches wind from any direction, Bardia says.
The result, he says, is a cheaper turbine that runs more often and pays for itself much quicker. The turbines also stand 30 feet tall, making them easier to site than traditional turbines, some of which stand more than 300 feet tall.
Hundreds of metal-working machines and welding robots have been loaded into Change Wind's factory on the Quinebaug River, waiting to be organized into a mass production plant.
With just one prototype turbine up and running on a farm in Pennsylvania, Change Wind has an impressive $11 million order book for more than 100 units. The company projects it could have a half-billion dollars in sales in five years.
Employment at Change Wind would grow from 25 in year one to 150 in year five, Bardia said.
To get up and running, Change Wind is raising $3.85 million in equity for upgrades to the facility, working capital and materials, while also speaking with Connecticut's economic development department about state assistance. Bardia says he is close to closing deals with an investment fund and the state that would together amount to $3 million.
Change Wind's technology gets more electricity out of lighter winds than existing turbines.
"There's a series of incremental gains that we are able to pick up with our machines at low wind speed that are completely missed by the bulk of the market," Bardia says.
"You can take two Home Depot buckets, put them on a shaft and get a wind turbine that makes power with 25 mph winds, but at low wind speeds you won't have anything."
Squeezing extra kilowatts out of the softer winds is where Bardia says his company's intellectual property is. Strong magnets made of rare-earth materials decrease friction, while a built-in six-speed transmission multiplies torque as the turbine spins at different speeds. Change Wind has four generator patents and nearly 20 other patents pending.
The manufacturing strategy is also central to the lower-cost turbine.
"When you get into manufacturing, you begin with a major investment in machinery and a major investment in energy," says Bardia, the company's chief executive.
Bardia acquired the machinery from downsizing auctions at the country's largest manufacturers. As companies like General Motors, United Technologies Corp. and General Electric all "right-sized" their businesses, Bardia scooped up deals. He says he has more than a dozen tractor-trailer beds loaded with equipment in other states waiting to be shipped here.
For electricity, Change Wind will tap directly into a 2.8-megawatt hydroelectric yards away on the Quinebaug River, buying power for one-fifth of what it would otherwise cost from Connecticut Light & Power. Bardia bought the Jewett City building through a separate company Notus Eurus LLC, named for the Greek gods for the southern and eastern winds.
Notus Eurus LLC paid $500,000 for the building in October, according to public documents. Change Wind is leasing it for $1.25 a square foot.
Those two points, together with his years of experience working in automotive manufacturing, will help Change Wind make its 36-kilowatt turbine for much cheaper than its competitors. At about $1,600 a kilowatt, the cost is much lower than the federally estimated $5,000 a kilowatt for small wind turbines built in 2012.
Players in the small wind industry, who have seen many small wind turbine manufacturers come and go, say Change Wind's product seems very aggressive on the cost and output. Left with a bad taste in their mouths from companies like Tangarie in 2012 and OptiWind in 2013 that folded, the industry now calls for third-party verification of how much power a turbine can make.
Mike Bergey, head of the Distributed Wind Energy Association and president of Bergey Wind, a manufacturer of small wind turbines and potential competitor of Change Wind, was skeptical of Bardia's product.
"Until they have the certification, one should take a careful look at the company," he said.
Bardia says he plans to have two universities verify the outputs on two early production models as soon as the first half of next year. In the meantime, he offers the five years of operation of his prototype as evidence.
(GRISWOLD)
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