Wind Farms

A wind farm is a collection of wind turbines in the same location. This may also be called a “wind power plant,” because many wind turbines working together can produce a lot of electricity—just like coal or nuclear power plants. Wind turbines are often grouped together in wind farms because this is the most economical way to create electricity from the wind. In other words, wind farms give us the most power for our buck! Electricity from wind farms is one of the most affordable sources of electricity today, and may soon be the cheapest form as technology advances and fossil fuels become less abundant.

Horse Hollow Wind Farm - 735.5 MW        (FPL)

Some wind farms are very small - just two or three turbines sited together. Other wind farms are enormous. The largest wind farm in the world is in Texas. It has 421 wind turbines spread out over 47,000 acres. This wind farm can produce a total of 735.5 Megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power over 220,000 American homes! Other huge wind farms are being planned around the world. One large wind farm being planned off the coast of England would power 25% of the homes in London! Shell WindEnergy Inc. has announced plans to build a 3,000 MW wind farm in the panhandle of Texas. As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas!

 

Offshore Wind Farms

Most wind farms are located on land, but wind farms can also be offshore in the ocean or sea. It is a good idea to put wind turbines offshore because the wind is often very strong and consistent away from land. Obstacles on land like trees and buildings slow down the wind and make it turbulent, but out at sea there is nothing to slow down the wind. Offshore wind farms typically use larger wind turbines (2.5 - 5 MW each).

Kentish Flats Wind Farm - UK                      (photo source)

 

The largest offshore wind farm in the world today is the Nysted Wind Farm off the coast of Denmark. It is made up of 72 wind turbines for a total capacity of 166 MW. A larger offshore wind farm is under construction off the coast of Scotland, with a capacity of 180 MW.

 

Currently there are no offshore wind farms in the United States. There are several proposed projects, some of which may begin construction in the next few years. One offshore project in the US has been in the planning and development stages for over 5 years. The Cape Wind project will consist of 130 turbines producing 420 MW of electricity. However, this project has faced opposition from people who believe the wind farm will harm the aesthetic beauty of the Cape Cod region. Another project off the coast of Texas has been approved, and when constructed may produce upwards of 500 MW.

Wind Farm Layout to minimize "Wind Park Effect"        (windpower.org)

 

The Wind Park Effect

If multiple wind turbines are placed too close to one another, the efficiency of the turbines will be reduced. Each wind turbine extracts some energy from the wind, so directly downwind of a turbine winds will be slower and more turbulent. For this reason, wind turbines in a wind farm are typically placed 3-5 rotor diameters apart perpendicular to the prevailing wind and 5-10 rotor diameters apart parallel to the prevailing wind. Energy loss due to the "Wind Park Effect" may be 2-5%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool Idea! Try Using Kidwind model wind turbines like the ALTurbine or the WindLab Jr. to make a miniature wind farm! If you connect two or more model wind turbines together, you can measure the increase in power! You can also try some experiments to calculate the "wind park effect" on your miniature wind farm. For more ideas and instructions, click here (pdf).

 

 

 

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