The cooperatively owned Middelgrunden Wind Farm is a 40-MW, 20-turbine offshore installation in the shallow coastal waters of Copenhagen, the world’s largest upon construction in 2000. With 10 other onshore turbines in the neighbouring seaport, the 30 turbines operate at over 90% efficiency and provide about 6% of Copenhagen’s electric power.
Modern wind turbines are generally classified by power output (and hence size), e.g., from 400-600 kW up to 3 MW per unit. Most turbines today are horizontal axis with 3-blade rotors and are installed in sections to minimize local disruption. The operation of the nacelle, electrical generator, wind sensors, hub, and blades are all explained. [9:53]
September 19, 2013SSE
| Scotland | renewables: wind
Scotland's Clyde Wind Farm is one of Europe’s largest at 350 MW (152 2.3-MW turbines) across 47 square km, enough to power 279,000 homes. The site layout was optimized to catch the most wind and was grid connected in 2011. Renewable energy now powers more than one third of Scotland's electricity. “In Scotland we’ll always have wind.” (14:31)
The construction and operation of a modern megawatt wind turbine is explained: foundation, 100-ton base, sectional 120-m tower, nacelle, electrical generation, high-voltage transformer (1 kV to 20 kV), blade manufacturing, and site installation. Not for those afraid of heights. [6:17]
A novel wind-power/water-storage plant provides 50% of the energy needs for 10,000 el Hierro islanders, saving 500 tons of fossil fuel/month (40,000 barrels oil, 19,000 tons CO2 per year). Not dependent on imported diesel, 5 2.2-MW turbines (11.5MW) and 2 fresh-water reservoirs (700 m apart) generate electricity, pumping water up during high wind for reuse.
December 27, 2016CleanTechnica
| United States | renewables: wind
Norwegian company Statoil will install 400-600 MW of offshore wind power on 79,350 acres up to 30 miles off the coast of New York (at depths of 20-40 m) after its winning bid of $42.5 million to the Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Statoil is also part of the 7.2-GW Dogger Bank Zone project in the North Sea.
July 28, 2017 RenewEconomy
| Global | renewables: wind
Statoil announced it is installing the world’s first floating windfarm off the coast of Peterhead, Scotland. The 30-MW Hywind pilot farm will employ 5 6-MW Siemens Gamesa turbines. Floating farms offer advantages over fixed turbines: deeper waters with stronger and less variable winds, onshore construction, less wildlife impact. But costs are still high.
El Hierro, the furthest Canary island from mainland Spain, ran on 100% renewable energy for 18 straight days thanks to 5 2.2-MW wind turbines and 2 pumped hydro storage pools (for when the wind doesn't blow). Installed in 2014 for €82 million, the Gorona del Viento plant upped the green/diesel mix from 30/70 (2015) to 47/53 (2017).
August 21, 2018Dutch Review
| The Netherlands | renewables: wind
The world’s largest wind turbine will be installed in the Netherlands in 2019 in the port of Rotterdam. At 245 metres high with 110-m blades, the 12-MW Maasvlaktemolen will be the tallest structure in Rotterdam and 2nd-tallest in the Netherlands. The plan is to test the turbine on land before installing it at sea.
September 27, 2018Dutch News
| The Netherlands | renewables: wind
The Dutch state auditor rejected a claim by economic affairs minister that offshore wind farms in the Netherlands will be without government subsidy by 2022, a world first. While offshore costs are expected to fall by 40% from 2013 to 2023, government money is still needed to link to the grid. Subsidies are collected via domestic energy bills.
According to a Global Wind Energy Council report, Danish manufacturer Vestas made 20% of installed wind turbines in 2018. Global installations were roughly 50 GW for 20,000 turbines (about 2.5 MW per turbine). Chinese maker Goldwind and Siemens Gamesa were second and third, while over half of the top 15 makers were based in China.
Danish wind-power inventor Henrik Stiesdal talks about the latest in floating-platform offshore wind farms: “The question used to be ‘We like it but can we afford it?’ and now the question is ‘How can we afford not to?’” A modern 94-metre-blade device can power a single home in just one revolution.
February 7, 2020RenewEconomy
| The Netherlands | renewables: wind
GE’s 12-MW Haliade-X wind turbine broke the record for continuous power over 24 hours at 288 MWh, its daily max. Installed in December at the Port of Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Haliade-X can power more than 30,000 homes and is slated for 4.8 GW of offshore use, including the 1.1-GW U.S. Ocean Wind and 3.3-GW North Sea Dogger Bank projects.
February 20, 2020USA Today
| United States | renewables: wind
Long-term wind-turbine leases give farmers an extra income to cover fluctuating produce prices, emergencies, and tariffs. Each turbine can earn $3-7,000 annually, especially important during the US-China trade war as 2019 bankruptcies increased by 20%. U.S. wind power rose to 7% in 2019 up from 2.3% in 2010 and is now cheaper than natural gas.
March 20, 2020RenewEconomy
| Australia | renewables: wind
Australia’s first offshore wind farm will use existing transmission and connection infrastructure from Victoria’s coal power hub to connect to the national grid to bring offshore power to homes. Site exploration began in March 2019 for the proposed 2-GW Star of the South, located in Commonwealth waters south of Melbourne, Victoria.
At over 10 GW in 2019, Iowa now produces 40% of its electricity from wind power, eclipsing coal. Iowa and Kansas are the first states to produce most of its power from wind, while Iowa added the most new capacity after Texas. Lagging only Texas, Iowa is 2nd in wind-industry jobs (9,000) and investment ($19 billion), and had $69 million in land-lease payments
April 30, 2020RenewEconomy
| Ireland | renewables: wind
In Q1 2020, wind (44%) produced more electricity in Ireland than gas (42%) for the first time, powering over 700,000 homes, a 17% increase on 2019 Q1. Still, Ireland ranked almost last in Europe for 2020 targets with only 11% renewable energy use in 2018 and will not reach its goal of 70% renewable-energy electricity by 2030 ((SEAI report).
Reliable wind turbines are important in high-wind areas or after a power failure. One such vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) employs the Magnus effect to operate in strong winds, using spinning cylinders and cylinder wings. With a rotation 10 times slower than a blade turbine and not as powerful, this VAWT is operable in typhoon winds and less noisy.
October 14, 2020BBC Future
| United Kingdom | renewables: wind
Located in 90-m deep water 15 miles offshore, Hywind Scotland is the first floating wind array, powering 20,000 homes. The 5 174-m turbines sit atop buoyant concrete-and-steel keels, anchored to the sea floor with 3 taut mooring cables rather than seabed mounted. 80% of maritime waters are currently out of reach of conventional offshore turbines.
July 25, 2021euronews
| Istanbul | renewables: wind
A roadside VAWT on an Instanbul highway captures air from passing vehicles and is topped with a solar panel to boot. A single vertical-axis device generates 1 kilowatt of energy per hour (1 kWh of power), enough for 2 homes. Named ENLIL for a Mesopotamian god of the wind, the device doubles as a smart sensor to track temperature, humidity, and carbon.
Siemens Gamesa unveiled its 14-MW, SG 14-222 DD offshore prototype with 108-m blades and 222-m rotor off the northwest coast of Denmark. The company announced that 30 such WTs could generate enough electricity to power the entire city of Bilbao, where Siemens Gamesa is headquartered.
March 23, 2022Bloomberg
| Global | renewables: wind
Global wind turbine installations grew to almost 100 GW in 2021, breaking the previous year's record of 98.5 GW. Most were onshore (83%), although offshore grew to 16.8 GW, more than double 2020. Danish Vestas was #1 at 15.2 GW (15%) followed by Chinese Goldwind 12 GW and Spanish Siemens Gamesa 8.6 GW. The top 5 comprised over half.
April 25, 2022NSEnergy
| The Netherlands | renewables: wind
The 1.5-GW Hollandse Kust Zuid 18 km off the coast of the Hague will be the world's largest and first subsidy-free offshore wind farm when fully operational in 2023. The 140, 11-MW Semiens Gamesa turbines boast 200-m rotor diameters, stand 225 metres high, and are anchored to the seabed. The first 4 turbines were installed from the Wind Osprey.
May 19, 2022Dutch News
| Europe | renewables: wind
The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium will increase offshore wind installations and collaborate on electricity networks in the North Sea. Capacity will expand by 65 GW in 2030 and 150 GW in 2050, more than half the 2020 projected EU offshore capacity (some diverted to make hydrogen). The Dutch doubled its offshore target of 21 GW by 2030.
September 14, 2022Singularity Hub
| Sweden | renewables: wind
After testing a 30-kW offshore VAWT near Lysekil, western Sweden, the Swedish company SeaTwirl will build a 1-MW pilot commercial VAWT near Bokn, Norway, with plans to scale up to 10 MW by 2025. VAWTs use wind from all directions, require less space, and don't block as much wind as a HAWT, allowing closer spacing and a smaller footprint.
An 18-MW prototype WT with 260-m rotor diameter and 53,000-sq-meter sweep area was unveiled by China's Haizhuang Wind Power. To avoid supply chain issues, most of the components were internally sourced (blades, gearbox, and generator). One unit produces 74 million kWh/year, enough to supply 40,000 households with their annual electricity!
In 2018, 750 green energy projects were scapped at a cost of $230 million. Now 5 GW will be added by 2034, doubling wind capacity. Renewables are blooming from increased demand and falling costs, though some communities want better siting safeguards. Wind (9%) and solar (2%) will double to 20% of grid power via competitive bidding.
Wind power backlash includes property prices, views, animal kills, and noise, despite strict regulations.
Still, wind power has grown 10-fold in a decade to 75 GW, 5% needed to limit global warming. Amid fossil-fuel-backed anti-wind campaigns, the UK supplies 50% of household electricity. In the US, government control and nuclear power is cited.
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