The tallest wind turbines in the U.S. have been installed in Texas — the Vestas V90 turbines are 345 feet(105.156 meter) high, and are rated at 3 megawatts each. They are part of the 63 megawatt Snyder Wind Project, a wind farm that’s just been installed in western Texas.
Texas is already home to Horse Hollow, the world’s largest wind farm with 421 wind turbines that generate a total capacity of 735 megawatts.
The turbine towers at Snyder are so tall because wind conditions are best at that height — will produce energy sufficient to power more than 12,000 average Texas homes annually.
The wind farm was built by Enel SpA and GE Energy Financial Services. The two companies are also working together on another 101 megawatt wind farm project in Kansas.
Workers repair a 1.5 MW wind turbine — the turbines at Snyder are twice this size.Via: GE Press Release Metaefficient
2 comments:
The Vestas V90 is billed as an "efficient way to more power" and as "a ground-breaking... design which produces more power from less weight" but the brochure tells a different story.
With the shortest tower the unit weighs in at 271 tonnes, a whopping 90 tonnes per MW. And keep in mind you only get this when the wind is blowing at over 30 miles per hour. This may be good for a windmill, but lets look at other options.
Hyperion power is on the fast track to deploying the first small, modular nuclear heat sources. IIRC their reactor is 70 MWth and weighs 400 tons, if used for heat then that's 5.7 tons per MW and 16 tons/MW for electricity (35% conversion). And it works 24/7, unlike a well placed wind farm which is 20-30% capacity factor at best.
Ur right about the massive size of the turbine. But for nuclear energy u should take into consideration the cost of disposing of the wastes in a safe way. That adds a considerable amount of money and effort to the project. However, wind is cleaner, environmentally safer and doesn't require maintenance like a nuclear reactor. We all remember Chernobyl and its reactor. The worst side effect of wind turbines are there noise and size in populated areas.
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