Showing posts with label exports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exports. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 June 2011
How big are wind farm projects?
How big are wind farm projects?
Wind farms can range in size from a few megawatts to hundreds of megawatts in capacity, from one turbine to as large as 400 or more turbines. Wind Capital Group typically focuses on utility scale projects that are 50 MW or greater. Generally, this translates to 20 or more turbines, depending on the turbines used.
How big is a wind turbine?
How big is a wind turbine?
Utility-scale wind turbines for land-based wind farms come in various sizes, with rotor diameters ranging from about 50 meters (164 feet) to about 120 meters (394 feet), and with towers of roughly the same size. A wind turbine that Wind Capital Group might use at this time has a total height from the tower base to the tip of the blade of approximately 400 feet.
wind power basics
WIND ENERGY BASICS
What is wind energy?
Wind energy is a converted form of solar energy. The sun’s radiation heats different parts of the earth at different rates - most notably during the day and night, but also when different surfaces (for example, water and land) absorb or reflect heat at different rates. This, in turn, causes portions of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air rises, reducing the atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface, and cooler air is drawn in to replace it. The result is wind. Air has mass, and when it is in motion, it contains the energy of that motion (“kinetic energy”). Some portion of that energy can be converted into other forms of mechanical force or electricity that we can use to perform work.
Wind Power Group is committed to wildlife protection
Wind Power Group is committed to wildlife protection; we work with the State Department of Conservation and with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to conduct studies early on in the wind farm planning process to identify any potential issues. Wind, a 100% clean energy source, is one of the healthiest energy options, and one of the most compatible with animals and humans. Modern day wind farms are collectively far less harmful to birds than cats, power lines, buildings, hunters, vehicles, communication towers or pesticides. The National Audubon Society publicly endorses the use of modern wind turbines and wind farms as a means of creating clean, renewable energy
AFRAID something happening in their backyard
I think every new innovation is subjected to harassment from the commons as folks imagine often pseudo scientific arguments to prevent something happening in their backyard.
There may or may not be merit with the questions raised herein. However at the end of the day she is asking her neighbors to also inconvenience themselves for mostly selfish reasons.
Like her I do not want a garbage dump next door or anything else for that matter. However, I recognize that I am part of a community and that I must share common responsibility for ameliorating inconvenience even at my expense.
The remarkable fact is that our wind turbines now produce power at the same cost point as a coal plant. That is a surprising and pleasant outcome for the past thirty years of effort. I can assure you that few were comfortable with the proposition thirty years ago and I am sure the first customers mostly lost on the deal.
For the folks who are convinced that something must be done, it is no big trick to build a nice cinder block wall between you and the problem to create an infra sound shadow. That should be sufficient to provide a good sleep and general protection.
Maybe we can mount a cow bell on the blades so that folks will know when they are getting too close to the infrasound effect.
In the event, according to the recent article in Scientific American we need to build 3,800,000 wind turbines. Most can be out on the Great Plains to provide extra income to those farmers no longer able to irrigate their farms from the aquifer.
Solving Local opposition
Local opposition to proposed wind farms arises because some people perceive that the development will change what they are used to. It is true that a large wind farm can be a significant change, but while some people express concern about the effect wind turbines have on the beauty of our landscape, others see them as elegant and beautiful, or as symbols of a better, less polluted future. The visual effect of wind farms is a subjective issue, but most of the criticisms made about wind energy today are exaggerated or untrue and simply reflect attempts by particular groups to discredit the technology, worry local communities and turn them against proposed projects. In the electronic age, myths and misinformation about wind power spread at lightning speed.
ECO-SYSTEM IN AUSTRALIA
The average capacity factor for wind farms in Australia is around 35% compared to 85% for coal and gas fired power stations. This means that they cannot operate as a stand alone power source and therefore, require back up from either fossil fuel and/or renewable energy with storage.
During non production events such as low wind, due to the sheer size of the blades, many turbines still require third party power to rotate blades to prevent damage from standing in the same position to long.
The development of some wind farms has led to the division of rural communities. In most cases there is no compensation/benefit to neighbouring landholders that do not lease land for the turbines. In particular, absentee landholders, or those with large properties, are selling permission for turbines that are lucrative and out of their sight but clearly visible from neighbouring properties.
During non production events such as low wind, due to the sheer size of the blades, many turbines still require third party power to rotate blades to prevent damage from standing in the same position to long.
The development of some wind farms has led to the division of rural communities. In most cases there is no compensation/benefit to neighbouring landholders that do not lease land for the turbines. In particular, absentee landholders, or those with large properties, are selling permission for turbines that are lucrative and out of their sight but clearly visible from neighbouring properties.
Wind Grid
In this case, they have the same basic equipment we do, minus the batteries, but the output is actually connected to the homes circuit panel, and thereby to the rest of the utility grid. Any excess the produces is sent back out to the grid. It is generally used up at the neighbors house, with the wind producing home getting a credit from the power company, and the nieghbor paying their usual electric bill. This reduces the amount of power the power company has to feed into the grid. So again, there really is not any specific power infrastructure, it simply uses what is already available, our existing electrical grid. I’ll include some sites below you can check out if you want to learn more. You an also google phrases like, "wind Intertie," and, "Wind Grid," to look for other sources.
disadvantages of wind power
one of the big disadvantages of wind power is its almost total lack of infrastructure. Infrastructure refers to the structures required to make a system work. Roads, airports and train tracks, for example, are the infrastructure to our transportation system. Our current electrical grid is the infrastructure for our electric supply system in most developed areas of the world. But solar requires only the panels and a storage medium, usually a battery. We have a vacation cabin in the upper midwest that uses both solar and wind power. The entire system fits on, inside and behind our cabin in the form of panels on the roof, a tower and wind turbine in the field, and batteries and electronics in the utility room. By most standards, this does not even constitute a infrastructure since there is no structure connecting it to other locations.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
two towers are linked via three skybridges
.The two towers are linked via three skybridges, each holding a 225KW wind turbine, totalling to 675kW of wind power production. Each of these turbines measure 29 m (95 ft) in diameter, and is aligned north, which is the direction from which air from the Persian Gulf blows in. The sail-shaped buildings on either side are designed tofunnel wind through the gap to provide accelerated wind passing through the turbines. This was confirmed by wind tunnel tests, which showed that the buildings create an S-shaped flow, ensuring that any wind coming within a 45° angle to either side of the central axis will create a wind stream that remains perpendicular to the turbines. This significantly increases their potential to generate electricity
Bahrain World Trade Center
The Bahrain World Trade Center (also called Bahrain WTC or BWTC) is a 240 m (787 ft) high twin tower complex located in Manama, Bahrain. The towers were built in 2008 by the multi-national architectural firm Atkins. It is the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design.
This 50-floor structure is constructed in close proximity to the King Faisal Highway, near popular landmarks such as the towers of BFH, NBB, Abraj Al Lulu and the scenic Pearl Roundabout. It currently ranks as the second tallest building in Bahrain, after the twin towers of the Bahrain Financial Harbour. The project has received several awards for sustainability, including;
The 2006 LEAF Award for Best Use of Technology within a Large Scheme.
The Arab Construction World for Sustainable Design Award
solar power production
Compared to wind, India lags behind in solar power production. Only about 0.5% of the country’s power comes from solar. This is despite the availability of plenty of solar radiation in most of the country. In fact, India is one of the best places in the world to develop solar solutions for energy. Compared to wind, solar radiation is a much more abundant resource in India. Insolation levels are high all over the country, allowing for de-centralized, off-grid approaches to power production. Not only does this lead to a more stable system (because of less risk of any large scale power outages), but it is extremely efficient in terms of land area used (rooftops and open terraces can become energy sinks) as well as in terms of energy conservation (because inefficient, expensive and long transmission lines can be avoided).
wind also comes with it’s unique disadvantages
However, wind also comes with it’s unique disadvantages. The most prominent of these is the fact that wind patterns vary seasonally and geographically. This means that it can only be tapped to make electricity in some localized parts of the country, and the electricity production will vary throughout the year. The map on the right shows how just a few regions of the country are suitable for wind power harvesting. The wind patterns in India have been mapped and the areas with highest wind energy potential have been identified:
For those parts of the country without sustained strong winds, wind power may not be the best answer
Wind potential
Currently, India is fifth in the world in terms of installed wind power capacity. It is second, only after Germany, in the rate of growth of it’s wind sector. Wind power accounts for 6% of the total installed power capacity and 1.6% of the actual power production in India. The total wind energy potential in India is 10 times the total installed capacity.
Given these figures, it is no surprise that this source for energy production has received much attention in the past few years.
The major benefits of wind power are it’s fast set-up and turnover, clean environmental record, low operating and maintenance costs, relatively low capital costs and operation without the need for high-tech equipment. These are immediately recognized as ideal conditions for any seeking a quick business solution.
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