Giant windmills supply electricity to 1,000 families

Two years ago, researchers from Deft University of Technology, Netherlands, came up with the idea of ​​designing a windmill that can generate electricity without moving parts, providing a safe solution. and smoother than wind turbines.

Huge windmills are designed with many uses

Dutch engineers have applied the idea to design a giant windmill version that not only generates enough electricity for 1,000 households but also absorbs solar energy , stores and recycles water, and at the same time. acts as a tourist destination, hotel and home.

Huge windmills are designed with many uses.(Photo: Dutch WindWheel.)

The new windmill will be 173 meters high, including two parts: the outer circle is like the London Eye in the UK, allowing panoramic views of the Rotterdam city ​​and the canal below with 40 cabins with rotating glass; and the inner circle provides space for offices, 7-storey hotels, 72 apartments and a restaurant.

Guests can enjoy panoramic views of the city of Rotterdam from within the windmill.(Photo: Dutch Windwheel.)

"We want to build a durable building, serving as a foundation for every creation ," said Lennart Graaff, a developer from design company, Dutch Windwheel, to Popular Science. July 29.

The Dutch people are known for using windmills for centuries, turning the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy through rotating rotors. However, the new windmill design applies a method of converting wind energy by static electricity, borrowing wind power to push charged particles under the effect of an electric field.

The only problem is whether the method is feasible on a large-scale project. According to Dutch Windwheel and University of Deft researchers, in theory, the technology can be easily applied on many scales and used everywhere with wind.

The work will be built on the surface of a water supply such as a canal and use that water to spray positively charged water molecules through the space in the middle of the windmill. When the wind pushes these charged water particles from the mill's high voltage field, it creates a negative charge.

This negative charge will release an electric current to power the windmill, or be stored in an industrial battery. Graaf said the capacity of the current could reach one megawatt, enough to serve 1,000 households. In addition, the mill also installs systems to generate electricity from solar cells as well as to store and recycle water .

However, the windmill tested in miniature form for only 12.5 milliwatt, not enough to light a light bulb. The windmill work still needs to be studied for a long time before becoming a viable option but Graaf believes that this giant design can be completed and put into use in Rotterdam in 2025.