DWT is a wind turbine company that focuses on providing the lowest cost per kilowatt-hour in the small turbine market. DWT's design produces more than two times the energy of a conventional open bladed wind turbine of the same rotor diameter. The company was formed by Clarkson University associate professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, Ken Visser, and his team at Clarkson University.
The various residential and commercial applications of the wind turbine include farms such as Asgaard Farm which will be home to one of DWT's second generation turbine units currently in production. Beyond that DWT is focusing on establishing sales through partnerships with customers who are building and installing microgrids or mini grids, telecom communications towers, remote locations with unstable grids or no grid, and emergency preparedness.
Ken was referred to Point Positive in September 2017 by the staff at the St. Lawrence County IDA. DWT's initial pitch was October 2017. Point Positive stayed in touch with Ken over the next several months and then invited Ken and DWT back to pitch again when Point Positive felt they were ready. This took place at the August 2019 pitch session.
DWT was recently awarded a grant from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for its pre-prototype turbine design. This award with the current $250,000 round of funding, of which Point Positive has committed $75,000, will enable DWT to build out the next iteration of the product. Point Positive has since provided two additional rounds of investment totaling $467,000.
DWT is planning to open a facility in Potsdam to house the assembly of its turbines . In addition to the founding team of Ken, Paul Pavone, and Joe Dickson, DWT expects to be building out its team in the coming months.
