Vice-Chancellor starts University's first wind turbine

The new 20kW wind turbine is fitted with a revolutionary generator, known as the Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (BDFIG), which has been the subject of research at Cambridge over the past 10 years. Designed by Dr Richard McMahon and his team at the University's Engineering Department in collaboration with Durham University and Wind Technologies, a Cambridge University spinout, the BDFIG considerably improves upon the reliability of existing generators, which is an essential requirement for the next generation of offshore turbines. Following the successful completion of the 20kW project, researchers are currently building a medium-scale 250kW BDFIG, as a stepping stone to a multi-megawatt machine, which will be built and tested next year. Speeches at last week's ceremony were given by Professor Dame Ann Dowling, Head of the Engineering Department, Professor Gehan Amaratunga, Head of the Electronics, Power and Energy Conversion Group, and Dr Richard McMahon, Head of the Renewable Energy Group. News, University of Cambridge, The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TN - Information provided by news.online [a] admin.cam.ac (p) uk