The 35 GW of installed wind power capacity in America could be producing grid power 24/7.
The SmartGen system utilizes a ground-based turbo-compressor to compress air and this compressed air is used to drive a turbo air motor directly connected to the wind turbine generator.
Compressed air is used because it is safe, non-flammable and efficient when used in combination with the turbo air motor. The turbo air motor is one-tenth the size of the electric generator it is driving.
Using the existing wind turbine generator saves considerable money since the generator itself represents a cost of the wind turbine, and is already in place and connected to the grid.
The increased output of 25 GW 70 percent of 35 GW represents the generation capacity of twenty-five 1,000 MW nuclear power plants.
"If biogas is used then the SmartGen system is 100 percent renewable energy-based wind and/or biogas. Even if natural gas is used the electricity produced by SmartGen is twice as environmentally clean as burning coal. This will be increasingly important as we move to electric vehicles with batteries charged from a smart grid," adds Verini.