WASHINGTON — A gearless synchronous generator developed by Germany's Siemens and recently installed in a Norwegian wind power plant has achieved an efficiency rating of 98 percent, the company said.
Standard generators use a gearbox between the slow rotor and the fast generator to convert wind energy to electricity. But they lose energy to friction and heat.
The Siemens gearless generator uses permanent magnets to convert wind energy from the rotor to electricity. The design avoids losses to friction and heat and operates with only low winds or in brief gusts, the company said.
The gearless generator developed by Siemens' Automation and Drives unit was installed in April in the world's largest wind power plant in Hundhammerfjell, Norway. The plant has a power output of 3 megawatts, enough for its operator, the Swedish-Norwegian company ScanWind, to supply about 3,000 Norwegian households with electricity each year.
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