With all the fuss around solar farms and the Feed-in Tariff, it is easy to forget the UK has a small wind sector, let alone an expanding one. But growing it is, with dozens of small turbines going up on farmland and other sites uninhibited by turbulence up and down country every month. According to RenewableUK, the UK small wind sector grew by 25 per cent between 2005 and 2009, with a total of 14,000 small wind system units deployed in that period. Where take up has been slower is in the market for wind turbines designed to perform in urban environments. There’s no doubt that stories of poor performing rooftop wind turbines haven’t helped expand this potentially important section of the market, but it’s also been a question of developing the right technology for the right locations at the right time. One company that believes it has is quietrevolution. The Welsh-based manufacturer of vertical axis wind turbine, the qr5, has just announced a £5 million project financing deal with cleantech investment manager Hazel Capital. The funding will enable quietrevolution to install at least 150 more of its qr5 in UK locations unsuitable for most other small wind turbines currently on the market. The qr5 The qr5 is a compact wind turbine with a rotor that measures 5x3 metres. Especially designed to generate power in built-up areas, it delivers better performance, producing more energy, in locations where gusty conditions are prevalent, according to its maker. It also boasts low noise levels and can be installed either on buildings or as a stand-alone turbine. "We do have the edge," says Stephen Crosher, commercial director at quietrevolution about the qr5. "We’ve been working on it for four years and we’ve done an awful lot to improve the technology and there’s still lots of opportunities to go further and improve the performance." To date, quietrevolution has sold over 120 of its turbines in the UK. Customers have ranged from retailer Sainsbury’s, carmaker Mercedes, housebuilders Telford Homes and Rialto Homes, and the Big Yellow Storage company. But quietrevolution’s biggest customer to date has been Network Rail, which has mounted multiple qr5s on its west coast mainline. Indeed, roads, railways, coastal sea defences and promenades, hold the most potential for the qr5, according to the company. "Other wind turbines are better positioned on top of hills and farms, but ours are much better suited to urban fringe locations, such as high-rise buildings, and seafront promenades, producing energy with low noise and low vibration close to where people are," explains Crosher. Feed-in Tariff There is no doubt the Feed-in Tariff has helped boost the deployment of small wind turbines in the UK. The £900 million Government incentive scheme guarantees an inflation-linked income for on-site renewable electricity projects under five megawatts (MW) in size for a period of up to 25 years. Since it launched in April 2010, it has been responsible for the installation of more than 1000 small wind projects. But this pales into insignificance compared to nearly 20,000 solar PV projects that have been installed under the scheme. While the Government reviews the type and size of solar projects that should benefit from the subsidy in the future, the deal quietrevolution has struck with Hazel Capital should help the company better exploit the scheme. "The UK Feed-in Tariff scheme presents an enticing opportunity for investors to get good returns in the growing renewable energy market," Christian Yates, a partner at Hazel Capital, said when the deal with quietrevolution was announced last week. The agreement is good for quietrevolution in other ways too. It is structured so that Hazel Capital takes on the financial risk once the turbines are built, leaving quietrevolution to concentrate on manufacturing, a deal that is more common in the large-scale wind energy industry than it is in small wind. "We want to move away from installation and maintenance and concentrate on design and manufacturing," says Crosher. Exports The company is also keen to grow its export business and, at the end of last year, it struck a deal with RWE Innogy, the market-leading power producer in Germany, to distribute its wind turbine for the first time in the German market. RWE Innogy, is committed to selling up to 100 turbines by the end of 2011 under the agreement. While the UK and Germany will be the primary focus for quietrevolution’s growth in 2011, Crosher says the company is keen to expand into other territories in the near future. "In 2012 we will see more markets opening up, possibly four or five. These will be predominantly in Western Europe, but possibly one US state as well," he says. Suitability So since most businesses are situated in built up areas, is the qr5 going to be the right investment for their on-site renewable energy needs and how much will it cost? For most the answer is no. For a start, it costs around £28,000 to £32,000 to have qr5 turbine installed, although the cost decreases for multiple installations and is much cheaper if the property the turbine is going to be installed on is being built from scratch. This will be out of the price range for many small to medium-sized companies, even with the help of the Feed-in Tariff. Secondly, Crosher estimates that the qr5 will only be suitable for around 10 per cent of UK buildings, including domestic ones. "You are talking about significantly high buildings, high-rise flats, multi-storey car parks, that kind of thing," he explains. On the plus side, the qr5 will generate up to 7,500 kilowatts an hour per year on a good wind site. This is equivalent to the electrical needs of a 10 to 15-man office using lights, computers, servers, printers, faxes and phones. Also because the system is under 15 metres high, a simple planning application shouldn’t take more than three or four months to complete. And Crosher says the qr5 is a straightforward system to install, with only a turbine, mast and inverters required. "Ultimately, the customer it will suit best is one who has an energy need but also a good wind resource on their site," says Crosher. Qr5 turbine specifications Physical dimensions 5m high x 3.1m in diameter Generator Direct drive, mechanically integrated, weather sealed permanent magnet generator Power control Peak power tracking constantly optimises turbine output for all sites and windspeeds Operation mode Max wind speed: 19m/s; Min wind speed: 4.5m/s Design life 25 years (annual inspections recommended) Rotor construction Carbon fibre and epoxy resin blades and connection arms Power Regulation and shutdown Power regulation above 14m/s wind speed, auto shutdown in high wind speeds (above 19m/s) Roof mounting 3.5m/6m masts Tower mounting 15m mast Remote monitoring Event log can be accessed via PC. Remote monitoring stores operation, average wind speeds and kW hours of electricity generated Warranty Two years on components Cost of qr5 in UK £20,000 (includes rotor, mast, inverters) Installation cost £2,500 - £5,000 for ground mounted turbines.