System Level Design and Feasibility of the Myriad Multi-rotor Wind Turbine Concept

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Wind energy has been exploding in recent years with turbines getting larger, cheaper, and further offshore than ever before. The trend of increasing the size of turbines has been an effective strategy for reducing cost, largely because it reduces the number of installations required for a given wind farm power. But, there's an economic and technical limit - and the industry is beginning to reach it.Myriad Wind Energy Systems has an alternative solution - the multi-rotor wind turbine (MRWT). A MRWT is an array of many smaller rotors on a single support structure rather than the conventional large single rotor turbines used today. The MRWT has huge potential to be a step-change in wind turbine technology, delivering a significant reduction in capital costs, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, installation and transportation costs while improving the energy capture of wind turbines. Our smaller components lead to less specialised manufacturing, helping alleviate supply chain bottlenecks. Transportation, installation and maintenance are greatly simplified by avoiding the use of massive components. We estimate that our MRWT could reduce the levelized cost of wind energy by at least 25%, significantly more than is possible with today's turbines. We can achieve all of these aims while still increasing the overall power rating of our systems and avoiding all the problems associated with very large components - we simply add more modules.The MRWT concept has been well studied in academia, and proven to show a huge potential for significant cost savings. We believe it is the future of wind energy. The concept still requires development to be transformed from a great idea to a truly realisable product that can deliver cost effective wind energy to the world.This project represents the first phase of Myriad's technology development plan. The project involves a system level design of a MRWT. Also included is stakeholder engagement that covers all aspects of the wind industry. This ensures the system level design aligns with industry needs and restrictions.