Technology
The Myriad Turbine is a game-changing technology that delivers utility-scale wind energy while avoiding the use of giant components.
It utilises numerous standardised smaller rotors, mounted on a modular support structure. Components are designed to be simple to manufacture and transport, allowing our system to be delivered to site using standard road transportation. Scaling down blades to a manageable size opens opportunities for alternative materials and manufacturing processes. This means we can improve the sustainability of the wind turbine while producing the utility scale renewable energy demanded by utilities.
Our standardised 250kW generating units allows for rapid scale up of our technology using the same supply chains. Our system also takes advantage of numerous aerodynamic effects to increase energy yield compared to single rotor turbines. Our built-in maintenance system means our turbine can be maintained without the use of external cranes, ensuring our turbines produce more power, more of the time.
Background
On a theoretical level, the multi-rotor wind turbine approach takes advantage of fundamental scaling laws and allows us to circumvent some of the problems of larger single-rotor turbines while actually increasing performance.
To understand the scaling law, we find the best example is to consider something like a Rubik’s cube. In this example, the front-facing area of the cube represents the swept area of the rotor which is proportional to the energy produced. The volume of the cube represents the material mass of the rotor, which is proportional to the cost associated with making the rotor.
With traditional single-rotor turbines, if you want to triple the size of the rotor, the whole cube grows in all three dimensions. This means you get 9 times the swept area, but have to use 27 times the material mass to make it. With a multi-rotor system, we can simply stack 9 smaller cubes together. This means we still get 9 times the swept area, but we also only require 9 times the material mass to make the rotors, instead of the 27 times required for the single rotor approach.
Benefits
Cost
The Myriad Turbine significantly reduces CAPEX and OPEX. The multi-rotor design benefits from fundamental scaling relationships, which reduce material cost on key components, such as blades. It is currently a very complex task to manufacture blades over 100m long. Reducing blade length to 13m drastically reduces the complexity of this task, driving costs down further. The simplified small components are also ideal for mass manufacturing, leading to even further cost reductions.
Transport
Our innovative technology overcomes the challenges of difficult access and high transport costs associated with traditional single-rotor wind turbines. The Myriad Turbine is designed to be transportable by standard road transportation. By unlocking previously dismissed wind sites in hard-to-reach locations, we enable the harnessing of untapped renewable energy potential, paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Sustainability
Our design philosophy focuses on simple components that are easy to manufacture. This lowers the barrier to entry for manufacturers, resulting in a diverse supply chain. As the Myriad Turbine is a scalable solution, the same supply chains can be used across the entire product range.
Energy yield
Our system takes advantage of numerous aerodynamic effects to increase energy yield compared to single-rotor turbines. The improved aerodynamic efficiency, combined with our efficient maintenance system, leads to significant gains in energy yield, which is vital for driving down the cost of energy. The Myriad Turbine also benefits from built-in redundancy. On a single-rotor turbine, when a fault occurs the full power of the turbine is lost. With the Myriad Turbine, a fault in one rotor only results in a small portion of power being lost.
Maintenance
Our built-in maintenance system means our turbine can be maintained without the use of external cranes, ensuring our turbines produce more power, more of the time. This reduces lengthy lead times waiting for cranes to become available and get to site. In addition to this, The Myriad Turbines’ smaller components are much easier to handle and replace. Our system also minimises time working at height, making it safer for technicians.
Supply chain
Our smaller rotors mean we can develop sustainable blades by using alternative materials, combined with sustainable manufacturing and recycling processes. At Myriad, we believe that wind turbines should not only produce clean power, but utilise a fully circular economy to reach all sustainability goals.
Features
Scalable
The Myriad Turbine is the only fully scalable solution for utility scale wind energy. Our system is based on standardisation and modularisation, meaning we can quickly scale up our products to satisfy all segments of the wind turbine market. We plan to produce onshore Myriad products ranging from 4 rotors with a total power rating of 1MW, to a 24 rotor system with a total power output of 6MW.
Fully Modular
The Myriad Turbine is the only fully modular solution to utility-scale wind energy. Myriad has developed a fully modular support structure that can be used to support any number of our standardised generating units. This allows the entire system to be delivered using standard road transportation. It also has great manufacturing benefits.
Deployable in Remote Regions
Our first product, a four-rotor 1 MW system, is designed specifically for remote regions that are hard to access. Installing single-rotor turbines at these sites can be expensive and complex, so this market is underutilised. The Myriad Turbine is perfect for this application, and allows us to provide a solution that can transform remote sites into profitable assets for developers.
Want to get involved?
Myriad is looking to speak to investors, early adopters, and companies interested in collaboration. If you’re interested in our technology, we would love to hear from you.