B101 The Technology Context James Clayton 413729 Summary of an article from MIT Technology Review magazine. GE grabs gearless wind turbines Prachi Patel. Article Ge grabs gearless wind turbines. MIT technology review magazine. Retrieved 7/12/09 from the MIT technology review database. http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23517/page1/ Prachi Patel. Article Ge grabs gearless wind turbines. MIT technology review magazine. Retrieved 7/12/09 from the MIT technology review database. http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23517/page1/

Introduction GE power: A leading company in developing sustainable technology. Create innovating products and technology. Developed and modern company from steam power to wind power. Creating an efficient and more reliable future. Luke Taylor Clarke from his webpage www.mytrucks.co.uk retrieved 7/12/09 Richard Tuttle. WireIE . From the company webpage www.wireie.com . Retrived 7/12/09

Need for more off shore wind farms Ge is a global company specialising in wind power, although it has established over 12000 wind turbines installed globally, there is a distinct lack of off shore wind turbines. Problems occurring when developing off shore wind farms. The wind turbine is said to perform at its best in high winds, so many would think that coastal winds an ideal solution to maximising power intake. However wind turbulence is a leading factor in creating great stress on the gearboxes. Ge thinks that scan wind will be the answer. Here we must not forget the true power of wind. A sustainable energy source but also a devastating power. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research :: 2000-2009. Website www.tyndall.ac.uk . Retrieved 7/12/09.

New developed technology Scan wind a new technology in the wind turbine industry overcomes the first flaw of coastal wind farms. By removing the gear box and power from the blades going straight to the generator will reduce the stress and overall wear and tear on the gear box. in addition this removes the most complicated part of the turbine making it more reliable and reducing maintaining costs. Gary Reysa, fromBuild it solar. www.builditsolar.com. Retrieved 7/12/09 The graph shows how higher winds increase the efficiency of a wind turbine. Therefore producing further evidence that coastal wind farms are a leading factor in making them sustainable technology.

Targeting European market With this new technology GE are said to be targeting European countries when marketing their product. This also includes the UK stretching as far as the Nordic countries such as Norway. Europe having the brightest spots for off shore energy will fall in to place with the new drive to lower the costs of wind farms. However Ge will not have a market ready product until 2012 this could leave to much time for another company to release an equally good product which could also combat the need for more sustainable technology.

Scan wind, How it works. With 1473mws already available along the european coast a conventional turbine gearboxes converts 15-20 rpm into 1 800 rpm. This is the speed needed to generate electricity. However scan wind uses a novel direct drive in generator technology to make 3.5 megawatt turbines. Having the new technology makes them more reliable thus cutting down time and costs on maintain and breakdown repair. “In a conventional turbine, the rotor drives a gearbox and that turns the generator. Turbines with greater electrical outputs, such as offshore turbines, generate greater loads, making gearbox reliability a challenge”¹. this statement by Paul Davrok shows that GE are still keeping their design for the new wind turbine up to the standards of conventional turbines. As shown in the table below. ¹October 5, 2009 by Paul Dvorak   Filed under Design Engineering, Projects. www.windpowerengineering.com/tag/ge-energy/. Retrived 7/12/09 October 5, 2009 by Paul Dvorak   Filed under Design Engineering, Projects. www.windpowerengineering.com/tag/ge-energy/. Retrived 7/12/09

Conclusion Finally to conclude, the article expresses GE’s new technology and shows how it is developing to fill the gap in off shore wind farms, also in keeping with conversional turbines but also sticking to the industrial analysis of development which must reach 30,000 mega watts by 2020.