Geoff Henderson’s brief biography:
Geoff Henderson is the Director, founder and owner of
SyncWind Power Ltd
(see
About).
Geoff Henderson was Director and CEO of Windflow
Technology Ltd, a company which he and four other directors established in
2001 when they successfully raised equity funding to build the first
Windflow turbine. This innovative wind turbine is breaking new ground in
terms of design for fundamental fatigue load reduction, in particular
gearbox loads, for synchronous generation and for local manufacturing. The
first 500 kW Windflow turbine was completed near Christchurch in 2003 and
the first production batch of 5 turbines was completed in 2006 for a 97
turbine wind farm near Palmerston North. Windflow then had a continuous
production of at least 5 turbines a month.
Geoff is a graduate of Canterbury University with an honours degree in
Mechanical Engineering. He graduated in 1981 and then spent 3 years working
in Auckland for Worley Consultants Ltd as Energy Systems Engineer before
heading overseas in 1984.
Geoff has over 30 years experience in the wind industry and is a recognised global wind
expert. He spent seven years overseas which included 2 years working on wind
farms in California and four and a half years in England for a wind power
R&D company, Wind Energy Group Ltd. During this time he invented a system of
power control, the Torque Limiting Gearbox system, for which he has patents
in New Zealand and other countries. He became project engineer for Wind
Energy Group’s flagship commercial wind turbine, the 33 m, 300 kW “MS3”.
This involved managing the engineering design of all aspects of the turbine,
including blades, power-train, tower and electrical sub-assemblies. He was
also project engineer in an R&D project testing the fatigue strength of
blade-root joint between steel studs and the wood-epoxy blades.
He returned to NZ in 1991 to set up his own company, Wind Torque Limited to
promote windmill manufacturing and provide consultancy services. In 1992 he
set up another company, Aeolian Property Company Ltd, to purchase a prime
piece of wind farming land in the Palmerston North area.
In 1994 he received the Communications Award from the Institution of
Professional Engineers NZ (IPENZ) for his “outstanding contribution to the
public affairs of the Institution and the engineering profession as a
proponent of wind power in New Zealand”. Geoff was a finalist for the 2008
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year.
His entrepreneurial efforts since 1991 have resulted in:
-
2000: The formation of Windflow Technology Ltd.
-
2003: The construction of the first Windflow turbine.
-
2005: The establishment of an independent wind farm
developer, NZ Windfarms Ltd which was floated through public share
offerings in November 2005 and June 2007 (now listed on the NZSX).
-
2007: The establishment of a production line for at
least 5 Windflow 500 turbines a month and adjoining offices.
-
2010: IEC Certification of the Windflow 500 for Class
1A sites by Lloyds Register to IEC 61400-1:2005 (Edition 3).
-
2011: Completion of the Te Rere Hau wind farm for NZ
Windfarms. This $110 million project near Palmerston North consisted of 97
Windflow 500 turbines (48.5 MW). It continues to run with high
availability. The reliability of its gearboxes is notable given the
track-record of other turbine gearboxes in New Zealand and the fact that
it was the first production run of Windflow turbines. It vindicates the
TLG principle as a means to fundamentally protect the gearbox from torque
overloads.
-
2013-2016: Building 8 turbines in Scotland for the
UK’s Feed-in-tariff (FIT) market. These turbines continue to run with high
availability.
-
2021: The formation of
SyncWind Power Ltd
(see
About).
Geoff is a Fellow of IPENZ and is a registered
professional engineer in California. He was a founding director of the NZ
Wind Energy Association.
Geoff's
Blog:
Please read more about Geoff's passion for renewable energy on his
blog, where Geoff
shares his understanding of climate change under the three headings:
-
The science
-
The logic of action
-
The economic solution
Geoff's Blog:
https://isothermal.site
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