Innovative technology will be introduced at Edinburgh Airport in a bid to identify any untapped wind energy across the airport campus.
In a trial with green energy company Katrick Technologies, several wind mapping sensors will be put in place across the estate – including on the roof and around the runway – to examine areas of unexploited low-level wind power.
The data these sensors collect will help identify the optimal areas to capture and convert energy, and wind panels will be implemented to take advantage of this new information.
The use of the technology gives the airport the opportunity to generate additional green energy and be more energy efficient.
Danny Quinn, technical asset director at Edinburgh Airport, said: “As an airport we are always looking to embrace fresh ideas, particularly when it comes to the generation of green energy, and this technology has the potential to provide new opportunities around this.”
Katrick Technologies’ wind panels are a unique innovation for wind-based renewables. Each panel consists of numerous channelling ducts featuring multi-layered patented aerofoils. These aerofoils work independently from one other to maximise energy capture and convert the energy into mechanical oscillations. From here, the oscillations are converted to a focal point before conversion to energy.
The panels can capture more kinetic energy than conventional wind turbines, while measuring just 4 x 4m and thus demanding a much smaller footprint. Moreover, the panels are cheaper than most other wind-based solutions.
“Traditional wind turbines simply aren’t feasible for airport estates,” said Vijay Madlani, co-CEO of Katrick Technologies.
“In addition to their scalable and flexible location applications, the panels are designed to work as B3 noise barriers, meaning they offer highways and airports a noise mitigation solution. Additionally, we have created multiple designs which can complement various environmental settings.”
Image: Edinburgh Airport and Katrick Technologies
