Singapore, May 31 -It’s an oft- heard expression in Singapore, from policy makers to academics: “There’s no wind in Singapore.”

This has become a defeatist mantra for a potential alternative energy source, but one that needs to be re-examined if Cygnus Power’s chief executive Ong Gin Keat has his way.

Singapore-based Cygnus designs and manufactures vertical wind turbines. The technology has been perfected by experts in Japan and Korea over past decades and only recently has been brought into the Southeast Asian market.

Design of turbines is a key issue to harnessing wind power. Many of the turbines studied for use in Singapore are those better suited to temperate climates, such as horizontal axis turbines (for example, ones that are propeller shaped) . They will spin when air currents flow in a certain direction and at a certain speed, and perform ideally in conditions such as in Europe and North America. For wind energy to be harvested in a tropical climate, a specific, localised turbine design is necessary.

Design for tropical climate

Cygnus Power thinks it has solved the design puzzle. Its patented turbine design takes advantage of both lift and drag wind forces. As a result, its turbines can self-start with wind from any direction and are capable of capturing wind as slow as 1 metre per second— a unique design advantage.

Considering that in Singapore, the average wind speed at the lower range is two to three metres per second, this bodes well for Cygnus’s turbines. Mr Ong notes that when elevated off the ground and located strategically, speeds of up to eight metres per second and above can found in Singapore.

So far, these vertical turbines have an efficiency of more than 20 per cent, and this goes up to 90 per cent in some instances. Efficiency refers to the conversion of wind energy (kinetic or moving energy) into electrical energy. This includes losses as wind passes through the turbine blades, converting into electricity by the generator. The Cygnus models operating at low wind speeds demonstrate a 20 to 27 percent higher efficiency than other vertical axis wind turbines.

Mr Ong notes that there are some vendors in the industry that are the cause for wind energy’s allegedly bad reputation. “They will sell poorly-designed turbines for sites inappropriate for wind energy. Then when the turbines don’t spin, everyone observes that wind will not work here,” he said.

“The wind is blowing just fine, you just have to put the turbines in the right spot, and at the right elevation,” he said.

Harnessing urban wind potential

As in real estate, location, location, location, is key to harnessing the potential of wind energy - and it’s not just naturally-occurring wind that blows through our landscapes. “There is a huge untapped potential for man-made wind sources,” Mr. Ong notes.

Cygnus has recently explored the possibilities of harnessing excess wind from cooling towers and ventilation systems to recover the energy that is otherwise lost. Given that hotels alone account for 10 percent of Singapore’s energy consumption, recovering part of that energy in cooling towers is something to be considered.

In Singapore’s urban landscape, turbines could also have applications along major roadways, in train tunnels, or between buildings where wind might regularly occur.

Cygnus Power is currently piloting one of 2 kilowatt (kw) units at Nanyang Polytechnic atop one of its buildings. The turbine has a specially-designed base that allows it to straddle the roof structure with no additional modification to the building structure. There is also another installation of a 1 kw unit at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), as well as a 200w unit trialed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

In an urban environment, the strength of such vertical turbines is its efficient use of land and space. Cygnus has models ranging from 1 kw to 500 kw, and unlike horizontal access turbines, they can be installed side-by-side, taking up a smaller area of space. From hilltops to rooftops, this means that a higher capacity of energy generation could be fit into a smaller land area.

Remote applications

Outside cities, some other potential applications for the vertical turbines include remote communications towers. Having a built-in supply of alternative energy would lower the dependence on diesel generators at many mobile phone sites located in rural areas.

Offshore islands are also promising. “Wind accelerates over wide open areas of ocean. Small islands could reap the benefits of offshore wind,” Mr. Ong says. The vertical turbines are designed to take wind velocities of up to 60 metres per second, or 216 km per hour. On an island where typhoons occur frequently, a special frame can be fitted to protect the turbine from flying debris.

Such offshore islands, like remote communications towers, are frequently dependent on diesel generators. If energy is supplied from wind turbines instead, the amount of diesel imported to these remote locations can also be reduced.

Tackling Singapore’s energy and emissions issues

Although Singapore is not a remote destination, all of its energy is imported, mainly in the form of natural gas and crude oil. Being able to harness local wind resources and alternative sources of energy will reduce Singapore’s demand – and dependence – on fossil fuels. This could help increase economic stability and moderate the price of energy.

Mr. Ong sees a big potential in wind energy to reduce carbon emissions. Local wind projects can qualify for carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism scheme administered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Mr. Ong also highlights that with the cost of fossil fuels on the, investments into renewable energy will inevitably pay back over time.

While Mr. Ong has gone to great lengths to prove that wind energy can work – even in Singapore – he acknowledges that it will take time to change attitudes and speed uptake. However, due to both economic and environmental reasons, the energy mix in countries around the world will need to shift, and vertical wind turbines increasingly seem like a major part of the solution.