Rendering of Halo's 5 kW turbine. Source: Halo Energy

Halo Energy, a maker of small-scale wind turbines for on-site generation, has acquired shrouded wind-turbine technology developed by Ogin Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Halo says it plans to add this technology to its small-scale wind platform that offers sub-10 kW turbines for on-site generation for telecommunications towers, offshore oil and gas rigs, commercial and industrial facilities and mobile power plants.

Through its acquisition of Ogin's turbine design, which was developed over 10 years at a cost in excess of $150 million, Halo Energy says it is leveraging advancements made by Ogin in shrouded turbine technology and hoping to accelerate the adoption of on-site wind generation as a distributed energy resource.

Small wind has struggled as an economically viable generation source because wind turbines become increasingly inefficient at smaller sizes, says Halo Energy co-founder and CEO Vin Loccisano.

Halo is incorporating the Ogin technology into its existing 5 kW turbine design and expects to have an operating unit by the end of 2017 to use for performance validation. Unlike conventional open-bladed 5 kW wind turbines that typically have rotor diameters greater than five meters, Halo Energy's 5 kW turbine will have a 3.5-meter diameter. This should expand the number of sites where the technology can be installed.