Green Energy is the Path Forward for Empire Magnetics
Empire Magnetics provides quality motor products designed to perform in environments and applications where ordinary motors are unsuitable. They make specialty electric motors for: rockets, satellites, submarines, nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel processing, beam lines, cryogenic operation, explosive material handling, deep oil wells, and other difficult environments.
Their GIPP project, dedicated to the design and prototyping of new windmill technology, was a collaboration between Empire Magnetics and the scientists and engineers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs and the Makeyev Design Bureau of the State Rocket Center (Makeyev SRC) in Miass, Russia, which during the Cold War engaged in submarine-launched ICBM development. The project combined SRC expertise in aerodynamics, airfoil design and structural analysis with Empire Magnetic’s proficiency in specialty motor design and market access. Empire Magnetics Inc. is licensing the technology and marketing vertical axis windmill systems under the Wind-Sail name, (www.wind-sail.com) in the West, while a Russian company, SRC Vertical, is working to manufacture and market them in the Former Soviet Union.
Initial products include Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) from a 1.5 kW unit designed to be carried by a pack animal to a remote location, to a 30 kW unit capable of supporting refrigerators, communication, and water purification systems. Larger units are on the drawing boards to meet market demands. The Wind-sail version of the VAWT design offers advantages of lower maintenance costs, increased durability and reliability, and lower production costs, particularly for locations where power is required despite not having optimum wind resources.
The market potential for the VAWT technology is significant as demands for “green” energy sources intensify. The American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org) reports that in 2008, wind power’s five-year average annual growth rate was 32 percent. They further note that wind power comprised 42 percent of all the new U.S. generating capacity in 2008.
The marketing plan is to focus on off-grid markets or markets with unreliable power grids. Sublicense agreements for Cape Verde and the ECOWAS nations of West Africa, as well as California have been signed, an MOU for Marine Offshore applications is in place, while negotiations are in process for Ohio China, Holland, Brazil, Portugal. Related to the UN Sponsored work in West Africa, A collaboration with USIC member Campbell Applied Physics is on tract to use Empire Magnetic windmills to power CAP’s Advanced Seawater Reverse Osmosis (ASWRO) desalination systems
“Demand for wind turbines in Russia has turned out to be a marketing surprise,” Halstead states. “With no advertising budget, the Russian team has fielded more than 5,000 inquires and assembled a list of qualified, interested customers that are willing to purchase more units than SRCV can possibly produce in the first year. USIC, LBNL and The Russian State Rocket Center have all played vital roles in getting us from concept to working prototypes.” But investment funds are needed to convert business potential into jobs and green technology.
Empire Magnetics represents a USIC success story in process.