Wind power is fast becoming one of the major sources of energy and is second only to solar energy in terms of production capacity. Nowadays massive turbines are being created that provide better efficiency and are able to generate more power. Here in the next few sections we will look at some of the largest wind farms of the world.
Alta Wind Energy Center:
Located in California, USA, AWEC is the largest wind farms in the world. AWEC has 1,020MW operational capacity and plans are to expand this capacity to 1,550MW. First five units were installed in the year 2011 with another two units set up in 2012 and 4 more units still to be completed. All the eleven units together will create a wind farm having 586 turbines.
Shepherds Flat Wind Farm:
This wind farm is situated in Oregon, USA and has operational capacity of 845MW. Spreading over thirty square miles, it was developed with an investment of $2 billion. The farm became the largest financed one when it received $1.3 billion loan guarantee from USDE in the year 2010 and started operations from 2012.
Roscoe Wind Farm:
Located in Texas, USA, it has an operational capacity of 781MW. The wind farm started operations from 2009 and has 627 turbines installed in the farm. It spreads over 400 sq. km. of farmland with each of the turbines installed at a distance of 900 ft from the other.
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Centre:
HHWEC is in Texas, USA and is spread over 47,000 acres of land with an operation capacity of 735MW. The amount of energy the wind farm generates is sufficient for meeting electricity requirements of more than 180,000 Texas houses.
Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm:
This wind farm has capacity of 662MW and was commissioned in two phases, first completing in 2007 and the second in 2008. CRWF has also been successful in earning investment of $225 million from JPMorgan Chase and GE Energy Financial Services. The farm consists of 342 GE 1.5MW and 65 Siemens 2.3MW turbines.
London Array Offshore Wind Farm:
It is the largest offshore wind farm with operational capacity of 630MW and located close to coasts of Essex and Kent. At LAOWF, all the turbines have a 120m rotor diameter and the farm is capable of producing enough energy for two-thirds of houses in Kent. There are 175 Siemens turbines of 3.6MW capacity with height of about 87m from sea level at the farm.
FantaneleCogealac Wind Farm:
Situated in Dobruja, Romania, it has 600MW of operational capacity. The farm is spread over an area of 2,700 acres and presently is the largest onshore farm in Europe. All the turbines at the farm have a 99m rotor diameter and together they generate about tenth of total renewable energy production in the country. There are around 240 GE 2.5 XL turbines installed at the farm with each having 2.5MW capacity.
Fowler Ridge Wind Farm:
This wind farm has been created in Indiana, USA and its installed capacity is about 600MW. The farm is spread over 50,000 acres of land and when fully operation, the farm can meet requirements of 200k houses. At FRWF, these are about 182 Vestas 1.65MW turbines, 133 GE 1.5MW and Clipper 2.5 MW turbines. The power generated at the wind farm is then transferred into PJM grid network.
Summary:
The world is serious about wind energy and its use is increasing every day. As more such wind farms are developed around the world, our dependence on traditional energy sources will get reduced considerably.
