Swedish wind power company SeaTwirl has secured a patent from the European Patent Office (EPO) for its divisible offshore wind turbine.
SeaTwirl has already been granted the same patent in Sweden, USA and China. SeaTwirl is a vertical floating wind turbine that was tested off the west coast of Sweden in 2011. It is also the name of the company that produces the turbine.
The patent protects a solution where the wind turbine is divisible above and below the house that holds the generator and bearing, which means that the entire generator and bearing housing can be replaced just above the water surface by boat. It reduces costs for both installation and maintenance and minimizes downtime.
SeaTwirl is working strategically to build a broad patent portfolio. By protecting technical solutions that make the wind turbines cheaper to build and maintain, the company strengthens its market position. The corresponding patent was approved in Sweden in 2017 and in the US and China in 2019. The notice from the European Patent Office is dependent on SeaTwirl paying the required fees.
“We’re happy to now be able to broaden our patent protection for this technical solution that reduces the cost of service and maintenance by simplifying installation and replacement of entire modules”, says CEO Gabriel Strängberg.