'V-wing' turbine gets study cash

The new concept is claimed to be more stable and easier to maintain More details

An unusual design of wind turbine with a pair of giant vertical wings could one day be generating electricity for the UK Grid.

The innovative Nova Project is one of the first ideas to receive development funding from the recently established Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).

The ETI aims to find green engineering solutions that will help the UK meet its future energy and climate targets.

Set up as a public-private partnership, it has a potential £1.1bn of funding.

Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson announced the first four recipients of ETI funding.

"This is evidence of a real shift to green jobs and green engineering," he told BBC News.

Of the other recipients, one will study the feasibility of a 5MW floating offshore wind turbine for deep water use; another will study some of the reliability issues affecting current wind turbine designs; and a fourth project will install and test a 1MW tidal turbine in Orkney.

The monies announced on Tuesday total more than £20m.

The ETI's six private members are BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell. The government is looking for five further members.

The government is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, and is likely to adopt an interim target of a 34% reduction by 2020.

The intention to create the Energy Technologies Institute was announced in the Budget on 22 March 2006.