GE has spent more than 30 years working on the magnets in MRI systems and now thinks they can apply what they've learned to make a more powerful and cost efficient wind turbine.
The goal is a wind turbine that is close to three times larger than the company's largest model, able to operate in the 10 to 15 megawatt range.
GE's new turbine technology is a direct-drive system where the shaft of the rotor blade connects directly to a low-speed generator that uses permanent superconducting magnets to generate power.
Superconducting magnets are also more energy dense than rare earth permanent magnets "so the machine tends to be much lighter, more compact, and would enable you to scale up to a much higher megawatt rating in an easier manner,"
