Hydro Wind Energy harnesses offshore wind in deep waters

Here’s Hydro Wind Energy, a UAE-based climatetech developing innovative renewable energy solutions to provide low-cost clean electricity, grid scale energy storage, and seawater desalination.

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Founded by Lee King, Hayk Vasilyan, Maryam A Hassani and Aboozy Ghaly, the start-up has taken part in several development programs, including the Masdar Innovate Programme, Shell StartUp Engine, Techstars Hub71 in Abu Dhabi, and the AWS Clean Energy Accelerator.

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💰 Investor lowdown: The company has raised more than US$55 million from investors, such as Techstars, Hub71, Global Emerging Markets, Seedrs, as well as unnamed investors.

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🌬️ Not such a breeze

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99% of wind turbines are on land or in shallow waters, but 80% of the world's wind energy is in deep offshore waters.

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• This is beyond the reach of conventional turbines limited to about 60 meters depth. 

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While effective, these turbines face challenges: 

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1. They can't store energy and their electricity supply is inconsistent, fluctuating with wind speeds. 
2. They operate efficiently within a 4 to 25 meters per second wind speed range but must shut down in stronger winds, leading to energy loss and grid instability. 

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This variability contrasts with the on-demand energy generation of traditional fossil fuels and hydroelectric systems.

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🌀 A wind-win solution 

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Hydro Wind Energy thinks they have they have the answer:

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OceanHydro Omni, a hybrid energy system that harnesses offshore wind in deep waters using vertical axis wind rotors combined with a gravity-based system.

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🔩 Nuts and bolts 

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It works by converting wind energy into mechanical energy, which charges a "mechanical battery" by lifting a heavy block. 

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When the block is released, it generates electrical energy with a fixed power output, providing on-demand energy to the grid. 

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This system overcomes the limitations of conventional turbines and can harness wind from 4 to 40 meters per second wind speeds, operating in a wide variety of conditions, including extreme weather.

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⚡ The impact

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The system can potentially triple the amount of energy produced at one-fifth of the installation cost. 

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Arrays of these systems can provide uniform power to the grid to meet shifting demand, maintaining a guaranteed minimum power capacity offshore. 

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These arrays require no ramp-up time and can generate significant amounts of clean electricity for millions of homes. 

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The bottom line? Clean, reliable, and low-cost electrical energy with inbuilt energy storage.

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