NGenTec,  has been formed to exploit what it claims is a radical new design of electrical generator. The start up team of five, is chaired (right) by acting CEO Derek Shepherd, a former MD of Aggreko International, Glasgow-based supplier of mainly diesel-fuelled generators.

Work  by Dr Markus Mueller (CTO) (left) and Dr Alasdair McDonald (right)(chief engineer) at Edinburgh University’s Institute of Energy Systems has solved one of the fundamental engineering problems faced by builders of offshore wind turbines.

The fourth team member is James Murray,(left) business development consultants with seven years experience in project management for BAE System and Mott MacDonald.

Blades of conventional turbines are connected to the generator by a gearbox. In harsh conditions, at the mercy of the weather, at sea or on land, these are prone to breakdown, leading to costly repairs. The alternative is dispense with the gearbox, connecting the blades directly to a generator via an axle.

The  C-Gen technology uses a new arrangement of magnets inside the generator and copper coils that produce the electricity.  This has succeeded in cutting the weight of direct-drive generators by up to 50% and made assembly much easier.

Other advantages include more scalable at multi-MW ratings, modular, robost and fault tolerant design, easier to manufacture and higher efficiency over a broad range of wind speed. Cost associated with installation, transportation, turbine structure and operation and maintenance are reduces.

A 20kW prototype is working in the Edinburgh University lab and a 15kW version running on a wind turbine at the TUV NEL test site in West of Scotland.

Douglas, (right) an entrepreneur specialising in raising finance for start-ups, joined as NGenTec's fifth member with the aim to raising £4m to pilot the 6MW generator operation and  £10m for set up of assembly and manufacturing operations.

“Although our technology has applications onshore, offshore is where we think there is the most added value. It means that you don’t need such big towers and such deep foundations.”

Douglas claims that NGenTec, in which the University of Edinburgh has taken a 17.5 % stake, has the potential to be one of the most successful spin-out companies.