Jul 5, 2026 - How IKEA-Style Wind Turbines Could Change Offshore Energy
How IKEA-Style Wind Turbines Could Change Offshore Energy. You know what an offshore wind turbine looks like. A giant pole, three blades, bolted to the seafloor. Trouble is, that design only works in shallow water, which leaves most of the ocean, and the strongest winds, out of reach. A Swedish company called SeaTwirl wants to change that. It turns the turbine on its side, floats it, and flat-packs the whole thing like an IKEA bookshelf, no crane required. Vertical axis turbines have a rough track record, though, and the biggest one ever built broke after five years. So is SeaTwirl a real breakthrough? Or is it a century-old dead end in a flat-pack box?