Vertical Wind Turbine Spurring Interest

HONOLULU — It has been three years in the planning and now it is finally in place. The vertical axis wind turbine is close to being operational.

Nick Dizon of NIDON Clean Energy recently installed the carbon fiber clad turbine on a warehouse in Iwilei.

“It’s our effort to show that wind can work in Hawaii,” said Dizon.

Dizon is working with Siu Electric to test the U.S. designed turbine at the company’s 500 Alakawa offices.

The turbine was recently featured on Good Morning America. It is manufactured by a company called Urban Green Energy out of New York. The turbine on the warehouse is a four kilowatt system. The theory is the system could be ideal for urban small wind corridors. It needs at least 7 mph winds. The turbine is quiet and has with no exposed metal for rusting. It also has a relatively small footprint.