A first unit has been installed in Lubia (Soria), at the Center for the Development of Renewable Energy Sources (CEDER-CIEMAT).

Wind turbines convert wind energy into electricity, which is sent to the grid. However, wind’s lack of continuity, and its non-uniform intensity and direction, cause unfavorable effects on the turbines themselves as well as the electrical system to which they are connected.

The current technology for these wind machines, whose design is based on the Danish model (triple-blade facing windward) solves the problems of variations in torque and rotation speed by scaling the structures according to these load systems, and steering the machines with active servomechanisms for regulation and control, capable of overcoming natural phenomena up to advisable safety limits and within economic viability constraints.

One of the main goals of Ades’ new design is to eliminate such rigidities through systems that accumulate, offset and restore these variations, keeping them from affecting the uniformity of the turbine’s rotation and reducing, as a consequence, the power peaks and structural overloads. To this end, the turbine’s particular design combines three passive mechanical systems (swivelling single-blade rotor, a pendulum power train and a self-steering nacelle). This is a leeward facing, single-blade turbine with a pitched rotor and variable speeds.

This novel wind turbine provides high quality energy and has a reduced structural load compared to other, previous designs, by managing to have the force of the wind–which punishes such structures–become its ally.