Turbine Designers Seek Underwater Success
By Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 6/1/2004
Ocean-based wind-power developers have had mixed success convincing environmentalists that their soaring towers provide an appropriate alternative to fossil-fuel energy sources. A Florida company is seeking to address visual-pollution concerns with an underwater turbine, designed to be powered by the strong Gulf Stream current.
Florida Hydro Power and Light is working with U.S. Navy engineers to test and enhance a turbine designed to generate up to 3 MW of electricity when moored off the coast of Palm Beach County. Previous prototypes of the turbine's open-center design were tested off Florida's east coast in June 2001. The new turbine is planned to be installed by February 2006 and is intended as a proof-of-concept for a possible 532-turbine plant envisioned for the future.
