Compact Wind Acceleration Turbine

A compact wind acceleration turbine, or CWAT, is a class of wind turbine that uses a surrounding structure, typically a shroud or duct, to accelerate wind before it reaches the turbine own generating element, allowing a smaller rotor to capture more energy from a given wind speed than an open turbine of the same size could. The underlying shrouded-turbine concept has existed for decades without gaining wide market acceptance, though it drew fresh commercial interest in 2008 when two companies targeting the mid-size wind market of 100 kilowatts to 1 megawatt, Optiwind and the FloDesign Wind Turbine venture later renamed Ogin, each received early venture funding to develop their own versions of the design. Other companies pursuing related shrouded or ducted wind turbine concepts have included AristaPower, with its WindTamer product, and WindCube.