For years, the image of renewable energy has been those big white wind turbines turning on the horizon. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, but they’re also loud, costly to maintain, and a real hazard for wildlife like birds and bats.
That’s why a Spanish startup came up with something completely different. It’s called Vortex Bladeless. And the name already gives you a hint: it doesn’t use blades at all. Hard to picture, right?
Well turbines were hard to picture once too. So imagine a tall pole gently swaying in the wind. That’s the whole machine. The pole moves because of a natural effect called vortex shedding—basically, when wind wraps around an object and makes it wobble. Inside the device, that wobble is converted into electricity through electromagnetic induction.
As a result, you get a bladeless wind turbine that produces vibrational energy. The team behind it calls it silent renewable energy, and it delivers on that promise with a reduced environmental impact. They’ve even built models for different uses: the small Vortex Nano, the mid-sized Vortex Tacoma, and the larger Vortex Grand still in development.
How the Vortex bladeless works
The science is clever but easy to grasp. You’ve probably seen a street sign or a pole rattling in the wind—that’s vortex shedding. Normally it’s a problem engineers try to solve, but here it’s the whole idea.
The pole is designed to sway naturally with the wind. Inside, magnets make sure the parts don’t grind against each other. That keeps friction low and allows the vibrations to be converted into power through electromagnetic induction. With so little wear and tear, these devices could last decades, anywhere from 30 to 90 years.
And they don’t need strong winds to get going. At just 3 meters per second, the pole starts generating electricity. By 6 meters per second—enough to rustle trees or send dust across a road—it’s already producing useful power. That makes it well suited to cities, small towns, and rural areas where traditional turbines aren’t practical.
Models for different needs
Right now, there are three main versions of the design:
- Vortex Nano: Only a meter tall and producing about 3 watts. Not much on its own, but perfect alongside solar panels or for teaching.
- Vortex Tacoma: Around 2.75 meters tall, producing roughly 100 watts. Designed for homes, farms, and small projects.
- Vortex Grand: Still a prototype, between 9 and 13 meters tall, with the potential to generate 1 kilowatt. This one’s meant for factories, rural communities, or other larger installations.
What they all share is simplicity. They’re cheaper to make—about 45% less per unit of energy than traditional turbines. They run quietly (below 20 Hz, practically silent). And with no spinning blades, there’s no threat to birds or bats, and nothing heavy to break off during a storm.
From bridge collapse to bright idea
Inspiration sometimes comes from very random things. And this was the case for Vortex Bladeless, they got inspired by a famous disaster: In 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the U.S. collapsed after winds caused it to vibrate uncontrollably.
Watching that footage years later, one of the company’s founders, David Yáñez, asked himself, What if that same shaking could be used to make electricity?
With funding from Spain’s industrial development agency and support from researchers at MIT and Harvard, the Spanish startup turned that thought into prototypes. Now, with the Vortex Nano, Vortex Tacoma, and the upcoming Vortex Grand, the idea has become a real alternative to traditional wind power.
A new way forward
In the last years, wind power technology has developed new solutions, giving the people the power to choose depending on what they really need.
Vortex Bladeless isn’t here to replace every wind turbine. But it offers a new option—slim poles swaying quietly in the wind, creating power without noise or harm to wildlife.