Wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant,<ref>Robert Gasch, Jochen Twele (editors). Wind Power Plants: Fundamentals, Design, Construction and Operation. Springer, 2011. p.11</ref> is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore.
Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in China, India, and the United States. For example, the largest wind farm in the world, Gansu Wind Farm in China had a capacity of over 6,000 MW by 2012,<ref name="Guardian-2012.03.19">Watts, Jonathan & Huang, Cecily. Winds Of Change Blow Through China As Spending On Renewable Energy Soars, The Guardian, 19 March 2012, revised on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.</ref> with a goal of 20,000 MW<ref name="Forbes-GreenEnergyProjects">Fahey, Jonathan. In Pictures: The World's Biggest Green Energy Projects, Forbes, 9 January 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2019.</ref> by 2020.<ref name="Forbes-GansuWindFarm">Kanter, Doug. Gansu Wind Farm, Forbes. Retrieved 19 June 2019.</ref> As of December 2020, the 1218 MW Hornsea Wind Farm in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world.<ref name=offshorewindbizworldslargest>"World's largest offshore wind farm fully up and running". offshorewind.biz. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.</ref> Individual wind turbine designs continue to increase in power, resulting in fewer turbines being needed for the same total output.
Because they require no fuel, wind farms have less impact on the environment than many other forms of power generation and are often referred to as a good source of green energy. Wind farms have, however, been criticised for their visual impact and impact on the landscape. Typically they need to be spread over more land than other power stations and need to be built in wild and rural areas, which can lead to "industrialization of the countryside", habitat loss, and a drop in tourism. Some critics claim that wind farms have adverse health effects, but most researchers consider these claims to be pseudoscience (see wind turbine syndrome). Wind farms can interfere with radar, although in most cases, according to the US Department of Energy, "siting and other mitigations have resolved conflicts and allowed wind projects to co-exist effectively with radar".<ref name=windexchange>"WINDExchange: Wind Turbine Radar Interference". WINDExchange. Retrieved 19 June 2019.</ref>
Siting considerations
Location is critical to the overall success of a wind farm. Additional conditions contributing to a successful wind farm location include: wind conditions, access to electric transmission, physical access, and local electricity prices.
Wind conditions
The faster the average wind speed, the more electricity the wind turbine will generate, so faster winds are generally economically better for wind farm developments.<ref name="Xydis-etal-2009">Xydis, G.; Koroneos, C.; Loizidou, M. (2009). "Exergy analysis in a wind speed prognostic model as a wind farm sitting selection tool: a case study in Southern Greece". Applied Energy. 86 (11): 2411–2420. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.03.017.</ref> The balancing factor is that strong gusts and high turbulence require stronger more expensive turbines, otherwise there is a risk of damage. The average power in the wind is not proportional to the average wind speed. For this reason, the ideal wind conditions would be strong but consistent winds with low turbulence coming from a single direction.
Mountain passes are ideal locations for wind farms under these conditions. Mountain passes channel wind, blocked by mountains, through a tunnel like pass towards areas of lower pressure and flatter land.<ref>"Prevailing Winds". weather.gov. Retrieved 8 May 2019.</ref> Passes used for wind farms like the San Gorgonio Pass and Altamont Pass are known for their abundant wind resource capacity and capability for large-scale wind farms. These types of passes were the first places in the 1980s to have heavily invested large-scale wind farms after approval for wind energy development by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. From these wind farms, developers learned a lot about turbulence and crowding effects of large-scale wind projects, which were previously unresearched, in the U.S. due to the lack of operational wind farms large enough to conduct these types of studies.<ref>Kelly, Neil (1994). "Turbulence Descriptors for Scaling Fatigue Loading Spectra of Wind Turbine Structural Components" (PDF). NREL.</ref>
Usually sites are screened on the basis of a wind atlas, and validated with on-site wind measurements via long term or permanent meteorological-tower data using anemometers and wind vanes. Meteorological wind data alone is usually not sufficient for accurate siting of a large wind power project. Collection of site specific data for wind speed and direction is crucial to determining site potential<ref name="eweaFact">Wind energy-- the facts: a guide to the technology, economics and future of wind power page 32 EWEA 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2011.</ref><ref>"WINData LLC - Wind energy engineering since 1991". WINData LLC. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> in order to finance the project.<ref>"Introduction". 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2017.</ref> Local winds are often monitored for a year or more, detailed wind maps are constructed, along with rigorous grid capability studies conducted, before any wind generators are installed.
The wind blows faster at higher altitudes because of the reduced influence of drag. The increase in velocity with altitude is most dramatic near the surface and is affected by topography, surface roughness, and upwind obstacles such as trees or buildings. At altitudes of thousands of feet/hundreds of metres above sea level, the power in the wind decreases proportional to the decrease in air density.<ref>"How to calculate power output of wind". Windpower Engineering & Development. Retrieved 8 May 2019.</ref>
Electricity grid considerations
Often in heavily saturated energy markets, the first step in site selection for large-scale wind projects, before wind resource data collection, is finding areas with adequate available transfer capability (ATC). ATC is the measure of the remaining capacity in a transmission system available for further integration of two interconnected areas without significant upgrades to existing transmission lines and substations. Significant equipment upgrades have substantial costs, potentially undermining the viability of a project within a location, regardless of wind resource availability.<ref>North American Electric Reliability Council. "Available Transfer Capability Definitions and Determination" (PDF). Western Energy Board.</ref> Once a list of capable areas is constructed, the list is refined based on long term wind measurements, among other environmental or technical limiting factors such as proximity to load and land procurement.
Many independent system operators (ISOs) in the United States such as the California ISO and Midcontinent ISO use interconnection request queues to allow developers to propose a new generation for a specific given area and grid interconnection.<ref>CAISO (2016). "Business Practice Manual for Generator Interconnection Procedures".</ref> These request queues have both deposit costs at the time of request and ongoing costs for the studies the ISO will make for up to years after the request was submitted to ascertain the viability of the interconnection due to factors such as ATC.<ref>Singh, Abhishek (6 March 2018). "Studies, Study Results, & Project Cost Responsibility" (PDF). CAISO.</ref> Larger corporations who can afford to bid the most queues will most likely have market power as to which sites with the most resource and opportunity get to be developed upon. After the deadline to request a place in the queue has passed, many firms will withdraw their requests after gauging the competition in order to make back some of the deposit for each request that is determined too risky in comparison to other larger firms' requests.
Design
Turbine spacing
A major factor in wind-farm design is the spacing between the turbines, both laterally and axially (with respect to the prevailing winds). The closer the turbines are together, the more the upwind turbines block wind from their rear neighbors (wake effect). However, spacing turbines far apart increases the costs of roads and cables, and raises the amount of land needed to install a specific capacity of turbines. As a result of these factors, turbine spacing varies by site. Generally speaking, manufacturers require a minimum of 3.5 times the turbine's rotor diameter of clear space between each adjacent turbine's respective spatial envelope.
Closer spacing is possible depending on the turbine model, the conditions at the site, and how the site will be operated.[citation needed] Airflows slow down as they approach an obstacle, known as the 'blockage effect', reducing available wind power by 2% for the turbines in front of other turbines.<ref>Parnell, John (30 October 2019). "Orsted Lowers Offshore Wind Output Forecasts, Warns of Industrywide Problem". greentechmedia.com. the blockage effect of turbines deeper in the wind farm can even affect those in front it
</ref><ref>Snieckus, Darius (2 November 2019). "Will wind-wake slow industry's ambitions offshore?". Recharge | Renewable energy news and articles. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019.</ref>
Onshore
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The capacity of the world's first wind farm was 0.6 MW, produced by 20 wind turbines rated at 30 kilowatts each, installed on the shoulder of Crotched Mountain in southern New Hampshire in December 1980.<ref>"Historic Wind Development in New England: The Age of PURPA Spawns the "Wind Farm"". U.S. Department of Energy. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.</ref><ref>"Wind Energy Center Alumni and the Early Wind Industry". University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.</ref>
| Wind farm | Present capacity (MW) |
Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gansu Wind Farm | 8,000 | China | <ref name="Guardian-2012.03.19" /><ref name=":0">"2014 China Wind Power Review and Outlook" (PDF). GWEC. Retrieved 12 November 2015.</ref><ref>United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "CDM: Gansu Guazhou 300 MW Wind Power Project". Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref><ref>"Winds of change blow through China as spending on renewable energy soars". The Guardian. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.</ref>
<ref>"The 11+ Biggest Wind Farms and Wind Power Constructions That Reduce Carbon Footprint". 15 February 2018.</ref> |
| Zhang Jiakou | 3,000 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Urat Zhongqi, Bayannur City | 2,100 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Markbygden Wind Farm | 2,000 | Sweden | |
| Hami Wind Farm | 2,000 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Damao Qi, Baotou City | 1,600 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Muppandal Wind farm | 1,500 | India | <ref name=Jaisalmer>BS Reporter (11 May 2012). "Suzlon creates country's largest wind park". Business Standard India. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> |
| Alta (Oak Creek-Mojave) | 1,320 | United States | <ref name=terragen>Terra-Gen Press Release Archived 2 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, 17 April 2012</ref> |
| Complexo Eólico Lagoa dos Ventos | 1,112 | Brazil | Petronotícias"]. Retrieved 18 October 2023.</ref> |
| Jaisalmer Wind Park | 1,064 | India | |
| Complexo Eólico Rio do Vento | 1,038 | Brazil | <ref>"Dois novos parques eólicos no RN produzirão energia limpa e renovável para 242 mil residências". BNDES (in português do Brasil). Retrieved 18 October 2023.</ref> |
| Hongshagang, Town, Minqin County | 1,000 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Kailu, Tongliao | 1,000 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Chengde | 1,000 | China | <ref name=":0" /> |
| Shepherds Flat Wind Farm | 845 | United States | |
| Meadow Lake Wind Farm | 801 | United States | <ref name="ind" /><ref>"Meadow Lake Wind Farm Fact Sheet" (PDF). EDP Renewables North America. Retrieved 10 November 2023.</ref> |
| Roscoe Wind Farm | 781.5 | United States | <ref>"Renewable Energy News".</ref> |
| Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center | 735.5 | United States | <ref name=drilling/><ref name=tex>AWEA: U.S. Wind Energy Projects – Texas Archived 29 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine</ref> |
| Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm | 662.5 | United States | <ref name=drilling/><ref name=tex/> |
| Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm | 600 | Romania | <ref name=cez>"The Largest Wind Farm in Europe Goes into Trial Operation" (Press release). CEZ Group. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> |
| Fowler Ridge Wind Farm | 599.8 | United States | <ref name=ind>AWEA: U.S. Wind Energy Projects – Indiana Archived 18 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine</ref> |
| Sweetwater Wind Farm | 585.3 | United States | <ref name=drilling/> |
| Complexo Eólico Chuí | 582 | Brazil | <ref>Nossa empresa - Complexo Eólico Chuí</ref> |
| Zarafara Wind Farm | 545 | Egypt | <ref>Ahmed, Mohamed. "Modeling and Simulation of ICT Network Architecture for Cyber-Physical Wind Energy System". Retrieved 16 December 2018.</ref> |
| Whitelee Wind Farm | 539 | United Kingdom | |
| Buffalo Gap Wind Farm | 523.3 | United States | <ref name=drilling>"Drilling Down: What Projects Made 2008 Such a Banner Year for Wind Power?". Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref><ref name=tex/> |
| Dabancheng Wind Farm | 500 | China | <ref>"China – Dabancheng Wind Farm now has a combined generating capacity of 500 MW". Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> |
| Panther Creek Wind Farm | 458 | United States | <ref name="tex"/> |
Onshore turbine installations in hilly or mountainous regions tend to be on ridges generally three kilometres or more inland from the nearest shoreline. This is done to exploit the topographic acceleration as the wind accelerates over a ridge. The additional wind speeds gained in this way can increase energy produced because more wind goes through the turbines. The exact position of each turbine matters, because a difference of 30 metre could potentially double output. This careful placement is referred to as 'micro-siting'.
Offshore
Europe is the leader in offshore wind energy, with the first offshore wind farm (Vindeby) being installed in Denmark in 1991. As of 2010, there are 39 offshore wind farms in waters off Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with a combined operating capacity of 2,396 MW. More than 100 GW (or 100,000 MW) of offshore projects are proposed or under development in Europe. The European Wind Energy Association has set a target of 40 GW installed by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030.<ref name=eesi2010>Environmental and Energy Study Institute (October 2010). "Offshore Wind Energy" (PDF).</ref>
As of 2017[update], The Walney Wind Farm in the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 659 MW, followed by the London Array (630 MW) also in the UK.
Offshore wind turbines are less obtrusive than turbines on land, as their apparent size and noise is mitigated by distance. Because water has less surface roughness than land (especially deeper water), the average wind speed is usually considerably higher over open water. Capacity factors (utilisation rates) are considerably higher than for onshore locations.<ref name="Garvinel2008">Garvine, Richard; Kempton, Willett (2008). "Assessing the wind field over the continental shelf as a resource for electric power" (PDF). Journal of Marine Research. 66 (6): 751–773. doi:10.1357/002224008788064540. ISSN 0022-2402. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref>
The province of Ontario in Canada is pursuing several proposed locations in the Great Lakes, including the suspended<ref name="noTril">Offshore wind development hits a snag in Ontario Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Alberta Oil Magazine, April 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.</ref> Trillium Power Wind 1 approximately 20 km from shore and over 400 MW in size.<ref>Hamilton, Tyler (15 January 2008). "Ontario to approve Great Lakes wind power". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 2 May 2008.</ref> Other Canadian projects include one on the Pacific west coast.<ref>"Naikun Wind Development, Inc". Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.</ref> In 2010, there were no offshore wind farms in the United States, but projects were under development in wind-rich areas of the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Pacific coast;<ref name="eesi2010" /> and in late 2016 the Block Island Wind Farm was commissioned.
Installation and service / maintenance of off-shore wind farms are a specific challenge for technology and economic operation of a wind farm. As of 2015[update], there are 20 jackup vessels for lifting components, but few can lift sizes above 5MW.<ref>Jannicke Nilsen (15 January 2016). "Slik utstyres de norske skipene for å takle nye gigant-vindmøller". Tu.no.</ref> Service vessels have to be operated nearly 24/7 (availability higher than 80% of time) to get sufficient amortisation from the wind turbines.[citation needed] Therefore, special fast service vehicles for installation (like Wind Turbine Shuttle) as well as for maintenance (including heave compensation and heave compensated working platforms to allow the service staff to enter the wind turbine also at difficult weather conditions) are required. So-called inertial and optical based Ship Stabilization and Motion Control systems (iSSMC) are used for that.
| Wind farm | Capacity (MW) |
Country | Turbines & model | Commissioned | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornsea Wind Farm | 1218 | United Kingdom | 174 x Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0-154 | 2019 | <ref>"DONG Tables Hornsea Project One Offshore Construction Schedule". Offshore Wind. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.</ref><ref name="guardianworldslargest">"World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Fully Up and Running". Offshore Wind. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.</ref> |
| Walney Wind Farm | 1026 | United Kingdom |
|
2018 | <ref>"World's largest offshore windfarm opens off Cumbrian coast". The Guardian. 6 September 2018. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.</ref> |
| Triton Knoll Wind Farm | 857 | United Kingdom | 90 × Vestas V164 9.5 MW | 2021 | The Crown Estate"]. Thecrownestate. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.</ref> |
| Jiangsu Qidong | 802 | China | 134 × (seven different models from four domestic manufacturers) | 2021 | <ref>"China's largest offshore wind farm is now fully connected to the grid". Electrek. 27 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.</ref><ref>"Largest Offshore Wind Farm in China Fully Grid Connected". Offshorewind. 27 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.</ref> |
| Borssele I & II | 752 | Netherlands | 94 × Siemens Gamesa 8MW | 2020 | <ref>"Borssele 1&2". Ørsted. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.</ref><ref>"Ørsted fully commissions Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm in Netherlands". www.power-technology.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.</ref> |
| Borssele III & IV | 731.5 | Netherlands | 77 × Vestas V164 9.5MW | 2021 | 4C Offshore"]. www.4coffshore.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.</ref><ref>"Borssele III and IV Offshore Wind Farm, the Netherlands". Power Technology | Energy News and Market Analysis. Retrieved 1 April 2020.</ref> |
| East Anglia Array | 714 | United Kingdom | 102 × Siemens Gamesa 7MW | 2020 | <ref>"Seajacks, Van Oord to Install East Anglia ONE Foundations". Offshore Wind. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.</ref><ref>"East Anglia One Now Officially Fully Operational". Offshore Wind. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.</ref> |
| London Array | 630 | United Kingdom | 175 × Siemens Gamesa SWT-3.6-120 | 2013 | <ref>"London Array's own website announcement of commencement of offshore works" (PDF). londonarray.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.</ref><ref>Wittrup, Sanne. First foundation Archived 2011-03-09 at the Wayback Machine Ing.dk, 8 March 2011. Accessed: 8 March 2011.</ref><ref>"London Array - The Project". londonarray.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2015.</ref> |
| Kriegers Flak | 605 | Denmark | 72 × Siemens Gamesa SWT-8.4-167 | 2021 | <ref>"Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm - Power Technology". Power Technology. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.</ref><ref>"About Kriegers Flak" (PDF). Vattenfall. Retrieved 6 September 2021.</ref> |
| Gemini Wind Farm | 600 | Netherlands | 150 × Siemens Gamesa SWT-4.0 | 2017 | <ref>Zaken, Ministerie van Economische (27 January 2017). "Aansluiting Windpark op zee - Gemini". rijksoverheid.nl (in Nederlands). Retrieved 8 May 2017.</ref> |
Experimental and proposed wind farms
Experimental wind farms consisting of a single wind turbine for testing purposes have been built. One such installation is Østerild Wind Turbine Test Field.
Airborne wind farms have been envisaged. Such wind farms are a group of airborne wind energy systems located close to each other connected to the grid at the same point.<ref>AWES Farm DensityAirborne Wind Energy Labs, March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014. Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine</ref>
Wind farms consisting of diverse wind turbines have been proposed in order to efficiently use wider ranges of wind speeds. Such wind farms are proposed to be projected under two criteria: maximization of the energy produced by the farm and minimization of its costs.<ref name="Romanuke">Romanuke, Vadim (2018). "Wind Farm Energy and Costs Optimization Algorithm under Uncertain Parameters of Wind Speed Distribution" (PDF). Studies in Informatics and Control. 27 (2): 155–164. doi:10.24846/v27i2y201803. Retrieved 21 February 2019.</ref>
By region
Australia
The Australian Greens have been significant supporters of Australian wind farms, however the party's previous leader Bob Brown and former leader Richard Di Natale have now both expressed concerns about environmental aspects of wind turbines, particularly the potential danger they impose for birds.<ref>Morton, Adam (15 July 2019). "Bob Brown rebukes Tasmanian windfarm project as the new Franklin dam". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2020.</ref><ref>"Di Natale defends Brown". 21 July 2019.</ref>
Brazil
In July 2022 Brazil reached 22 GW of installed wind power in about 750 wind farms <ref>Eólica supera 22 GW em operação no Brasil</ref><ref>"Brasil atinge 21 GW de capacidade instalada de energia eólica" (in português do Brasil). Valor. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.</ref> In 2021 Brazil was the 7th country in the world in terms of installed wind power (21 GW),<ref name="RENEWABLE CAPACITY STATISTICS 2021">RENEWABLE CAPACITY STATISTICS 2021</ref><ref>"Global wind statistics" (PDF). IRENA. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.</ref> and the 4th largest producer of wind energy in the world (72 TWh), behind only China, USA and Germany.<ref>Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, Wind Power generation</ref> The largest wind farm in the country is the Complexo eólico Lagoa dos Ventos in the State of Piauí, onshore with a current capacity of 1,000 MW being expanded to 1,500 MW.<ref>Maior parque eólico do Brasil e América Latina será ampliado pela segunda vez</ref>
Canada
China
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In just five years, China leapfrogged the rest of the world in wind energy production, going from 2,599 MW of capacity in 2006 to 62,733 MW at the end of 2011.<ref>"China's Revolution in Wind Energy". GWEC. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref><ref>"Release of global wind statistics: Wind Energy Powers Ahead Despite Economic Turmoil". Global Wind Energy Council.</ref><ref>"Global Wind Statistics 2011" (PDF). 7 February 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2012.</ref> However, the rapid growth outpaced China's infrastructure and new construction slowed significantly in 2012.<ref>Liu Yiyu (5 April 2012). "Turbine makers take a breather". China Daily USA.</ref>
At the end of 2009, wind power in China accounted for 25.1 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generating capacity,<ref>Lars Kroldrup (15 February 2010). "Gains in Global Wind Capacity Reported". The New York Times.</ref> and China has identified wind power as a key growth component of the country's economy.<ref>Gow, David (3 February 2009). "Wind power becomes Europe's fastest growing energy source". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 January 2010.</ref> With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind resources.<ref name="chin">"Oceans of Opportunity: Harnessing Europe's largest domestic energy resource" (PDF). EWEA. September 2009. pp. 18–19.</ref> Researchers from Harvard and Tsinghua University have found that China could meet all of their electricity demands from wind power by 2030.<ref>Megan Treacy (16 September 2009). "China Could Replace Coal with Wind". Ecogeek.org. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2010.</ref>
By the end of 2008, at least 15 Chinese companies were commercially producing wind turbines and several dozen more were producing components.<ref>Caprotti Federico (Spring 2009). "China's Cleantech Landscape: The Renewable Energy Technology Paradox" (PDF). Sustainable Development Law & Policy: 6–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2010.</ref> Turbine sizes of 1.5 MW to 3 MW became common. Leading wind power companies in China were Goldwind, Dongfang Electric, and Sinovel<ref name=re/> along with most major foreign wind turbine manufacturers.<ref>Adrian Lema & K. Ruby. "Towards a policy model for climate change mitigation: China's experience with wind power development and lessons for developing countries". Energy for Sustainable Development. 10 (4).</ref> China also increased production of small-scale wind turbines to about 80,000 turbines (80 MW) in 2008. Through all these developments, the Chinese wind industry appeared unaffected by the financial crisis of 2007–2008, according to industry observers.<ref name=re>"Renewables Global Status Report: 2009 Update" (PDF). REN21. 2009. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2009.</ref>
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the development of wind energy in China, in terms of scale and rhythm, is absolutely unparalleled in the world. The National People's Congress permanent committee passed a law that requires the Chinese energy companies to purchase all the electricity produced by the renewable energy sector.<ref>"CN : China ranks third in worldwide wind energy – Alternative energy news". Instalbiz.com. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.</ref>
Europe
In 2011 the European Union had a total installed wind capacity of 93,957 MW. Germany had the third-largest capacity in the world (after China and the United States), with an installed capacity of 29,060 MW at the end of 2011. Spain had 21,674 MW, and Italy and France each had between 6,000 and 7,000 MW.<ref>"Wind in power 2011 European statistics" (PDF). European Wind Energy Association. February 2012. p. 4. Retrieved 17 June 2012.</ref><ref>"GLOBAL WIND 2009 REPORT" (PDF). Global Wind energy council. March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.</ref> By January 2014, the UK installed capacity was 10,495 MW.<ref>"UK Wind Energy Database (UKWED)". RenewableUK. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> But energy production can be different from capacity – in 2010, Spain had the highest European wind power production with 43 TWh compared to Germany's 35 TWh.<ref>"Spain becomes the first European wind energy producer after overcoming Germany for the first time". Eolic Energy News. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)</ref>
Europe's largest windfarm is the 'London Array', an off-shore wind farm in the Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom, with a current capacity of 630 MW (the world's largest off-shore wind farm). Other large wind farms in Europe include Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm near Constanța, Romania with 600 MW capacity,<ref>"Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Park". Cez Group. Retrieved 14 October 2011.</ref><ref>"ČEZ says its wind farm in Romania is the biggest in Europe". Prague Daily Monitor. 12 October 2012. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.</ref> and Whitelee Wind Farm near Glasgow, Scotland which has a total capacity of 539 MW.
An important limiting factor of wind power is variable power generated by wind farms. In most locations the wind blows only part of the time, which means that there has to be back-up capacity of dispatchable generation capacity to cover periods that the wind is not blowing. To address this issue it has been proposed to create a "supergrid" to connect national grids together<ref>"A Supergrid for Europe". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref> across western Europe, ranging from Denmark across the southern North Sea to England and the Celtic Sea to Ireland, and further south to France and Spain especially in Higueruela which was for some time the biggest wind farm in the world.<ref>David Cifuentes & Víctor M. Rodríguez. "Renewable energy" (PDF). p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2007.</ref> The idea is that by the time a low pressure area has moved away from Denmark to the Baltic Sea the next low appears off the coast of Ireland. Therefore, while it is true that the wind is not blowing everywhere all of the time, it will always be blowing somewhere.
In July 2022, it became operative Seagreen, the world's deepest fixed-bottom wind farm. Located 26 miles off the Angus coastline, in Scotland, it has 114 turbines that generate 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of electricity.<ref>"Scotland's largest offshore windfarm starts producing electricity - and will power an enormous number of homes". 23 August 2022.</ref><ref>"Scotland's biggest offshore wind farm to generate first power". BBC News. 23 August 2022.</ref>
India
India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.<ref>"Wind atlas of India". Retrieved 28 August 2014.</ref> As of 31 March 2014, the installed capacity of wind power was 21136.3 MW mainly spread across Tamil Nadu state (7253 MW).<ref>"Indian Wind Energy and Economy". Indianwindpower.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.</ref><ref>"Ministry of New and Renewable Energy - Achievements". Mnre.gov.in. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2013.</ref> Wind power accounts nearly 8.5% of India's total installed power generation capacity, and it generates 1.6% of the country's power.
Japan
Jordan
The 117 MW Tafila Wind Farm in Jordan was inaugurated in December 2015, and is the first large scale wind farm project in the region.<ref>"Jordan News Agency (Petra) |King inaugurates Tafila Wind Farm Project". petra.gov.jo. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2016.</ref>
Morocco
Morocco has undertaken a vast wind energy program, to support the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the country. The Moroccan Integrated Wind Energy Project, spanning over a period of 10 years with a total investment estimated at $3.25 billion, will enable the country to bring the installed capacity, from wind energy, from 280 MW in 2010 to 2000 MW in 2020.<ref>"Invest in Morocco - Wind Energy". invest.gov.ma. Retrieved 19 June 2016.</ref><ref>"Energie Eolienne". mem.gov.ma. Retrieved 19 June 2016.</ref>
Pakistan
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Pakistan has wind corridors in Jhimpir, Gharo and Keti Bundar in Sindh province and is currently developing wind power plants in Jhimpir and Mirpur Sakro (District Thatta). The government of Pakistan decided to develop wind power energy sources due to problems supplying energy to the southern coastal regions of Sindh and Balochistan. The Zorlu Energy Putin Power Plant is the first wind power plant in Pakistan. The wind farm is being developed in Jhimpir, by Zorlu Energy Pakistan the local subsidiary of a Turkish company. The total cost of project is $136 million.[3] Completed in 2012, it has a total capacity of around 56MW. Fauji Fertilizer Company Energy Limited, has built a 49.5 MW wind Energy Farm at Jhimpir. Contract of supply of mechanical design was awarded to Nordex and Descon Engineering Limited. Nordex a German wind turbine manufacturer. In the end of 2011 49.6 MW will be completed. Pakistani Govt. also has issued LOI of 100 MW Wind power plant to FFCEL. Pakistani Govt. has plans to achieve electric power up to 2500 MW by the end of 2015 from wind energy to bring down energy shortage.
Currently four wind farms are operational (Fauji Fertilizer 49.5 MW (subsidiary of Fauji Foundation), Three Gorges 49.5 MW, Zorlu Energy Pakistan 56 MW, Sapphire Wind Power Co Ltd 52.6 MW) and six are under construction phase ( Master Wind Energy Ltd 52.6 MW, Sachal Energy Development Ltd 49.5 MW, Yunus Energy Ltd 49.5 MW, Gul Energy 49.5 MW, Metro Energy 49.5 MW, Tapal Energy ) and expected to achieve COD in 2017.
In Gharo wind corridor, two wind farms (Foundation Energy 1 & II each 49.5 MW) are operational while two wind farms Tenaga Generasi Ltd 49.5 MW and HydroChina Dawood Power Pvt Ltd 49.5 are under construction and expected to achieve COD in 2017.
According to a USAID report, Pakistan has the potential of producing 150,000 megawatts of wind energy, of which only the Sindh corridor can produce 40,000 megawatts.
Philippines
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The Philippines has the first windfarm in Southeast Asia. Located Northern part of the countries' biggest island Luzon, alongside the seashore of Bangui, Ilocos Norte.
The wind farm uses 20 units of 70-metre (230 ft) high Vestas V82 1.65 MW wind turbines, arranged on a single row stretching along a nine-kilometer shoreline off Bangui Bay, facing the West Philippine Sea.
Phase I of the NorthWind power project in Bangui Bay consists of 15 wind turbines, each capable of producing electricity up to a maximum capacity of 1.65 MW, for a total of 24.75 MW. The 15 on-shore turbines are spaced 326 metres (1,070 ft) apart, each 70 metres (230 ft) high, with 41 metres (135 ft) long blades, with a rotor diameter of 82 metres (269 ft) and a wind swept area of 5,281 square metres (56,840 sq ft). Phase II was completed in August 2008, and added 5 more wind turbines with the same capacity, and brought the total capacity to 33 MW. All 20 turbines describes a graceful arc reflecting the shoreline of Bangui Bay, facing the West Philippine Sea.
Adjacent municipalities of Burgos and Pagudpud followed with 50 and 27 wind turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each for a Total of 150 MW and 81 MW respectively.
Two other wind farms were built outside of Ilocos Norte, the Pililla Wind Farm in Rizal and the Mindoro Wind Farm near Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has received funding from the Asian Development Bank amounting to $300 million to invest in renewable energies. From this funding as well as $80 million from the Sri Lankan Government and $60 million from France's Agence Française de Développement, Sri Lanka is building two 100MW wind farms from 2017 due to be completed by late 2020 in Northern Sri Lanka.<ref>"ADB grants $300 m to boost renewable energy". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.</ref>
South Africa
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As of September 2015 a number of sizable wind farms have been constructed in South Africa mostly in the Western Cape region. These include the 100 MW Sere Wind Farm and the 138 MW Gouda Wind Facility.
Most future wind farms in South Africa are earmarked for locations along the Eastern Cape coastline.<ref name="cdc-electrawinds">"Electrawinds". Coega Development Corporation. Retrieved 6 January 2010.</ref><ref name="mcen-couga-wind">Swanepoel, Esmarie (11 September 2009). "Belgium company plans R1,2bn Eastern Cape wind farm". engineeringnews.co.za. Retrieved 6 January 2010.</ref><ref name="cacadu-kouga-wind">"15-megawatt wind farm planned for Kouga". Cacadu District Municipality. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2010.</ref> Eskom has constructed one small scale prototype windfarm at Klipheuwel in the Western Cape and another demonstrator site is near Darling with phase 1 completed. The first commercial wind farm, Coega Wind Farm in Port Elisabeth, was developed by the Belgian company Electrawinds.
United States
U.S. wind power installed capacity in September 2019 exceeded 100,125 MW and supplies 6.94% of the nation's electricity.<ref name="aweaQ3_2019">"AWEA 3rd quarter 2019 Public Market Report" (PDF). American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). September 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2019.</ref> The majority of wind farms in the United States are located in the Central Plains, with slow expansion into other regions of the country.
New installations place the U.S. on a trajectory to generate 20% of the nation's electricity by 2030 from wind energy.<ref name=awea_q4_09>"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)</ref> Growth in 2008 channeled some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country, along with natural gas. Wind projects completed in 2008 accounted for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added in the U.S. during the year.<ref name="aw20091020">"Wind's Environmental Record". American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Retrieved 9 January 2020.</ref>
Texas, with 27,036 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by Iowa with 8,965 MW and Oklahoma with 8,072 MW.<ref name="aweaQ3_2019b">"AWEA 3rd quarter 2019 Public Market Report" (PDF). American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). September 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.</ref> Iowa is the leading state in terms of wind energy accounting for nearly 40% of total energy production in 2019. The Alta Wind Energy Center (1,020 MW) in California is the nation's largest wind farm in terms of capacity. Altamont Pass Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in the U.S. in terms of the number of individual turbines.<ref>Encyclopedia of Earth Altamont Pass, California</ref>
At the end of 2019, about 114,000 people were employed in the U.S. wind industry,<ref>"American Wind Energy Association". 31 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)</ref> and GE Energy was the largest domestic wind turbine manufacturer.<ref name=nine>American Wind Energy Association (2009). Annual Wind Industry Report, Year Ending 2008 Archived 20 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine pp. 9–10.</ref> In 2018, US wind power provided enough electricity to power approximately 25 million homes, avoiding the emissions of 200 million tons of carbon.<ref>"Wind Facts at a Glance". American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Retrieved 9 January 2020.</ref><ref name=aw20091020/>
Impact on environment and landscape
Health impact
There have been multiple scientific, peer-reviewed studies into wind farm noise, which have concluded that infrasound from wind farms is not a hazard to human health and there is no verifiable evidence for 'Wind Turbine Syndrome' causing Vibroacoustic disease, although some suggest further research might still be useful.<ref>'Wind Energy - The Facts', p. 1. Archived 27 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine</ref><ref>Pagano, Margareta (2 August 2009). "Are wind farms a health risk? US scientist identifies 'wind turbine syndrome' - Noise and vibration coming from large turbines are behind an increase in heart disease, migraine, panic attacks and other health problems, according to research by an American doctor". The Independent.</ref>
In a 2009 report about "Rural Wind Farms", a Standing Committee of the Parliament of New South Wales, Australia, recommended a minimum setback of two kilometres between wind turbines and neighboring houses (which can be waived by the affected neighbor) as a precautionary approach.<ref name="NSW1">General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5, Parliament of New South Wales (16 December 2009). "Final Report, Rural Wind Farms" Archived 23 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine.</ref>
A 2014 paper suggests that the 'Wind Turbine Syndrome' is mainly caused by the nocebo effect and other psychological mechanisms.<ref name="Novella2016">Novella, Steven (7 March 2016). "Wind Turbine Controversy". Neurologica Blog. Retrieved 25 July 2016.</ref><ref>Rubin, GJ; Burns, M; Wessely, S (7 May 2014). "Possible psychological mechanisms for "wind turbine syndrome". On the windmills of your mind". Noise & Health. 16 (69): 116–122. doi:10.4103/1463-1741.132099. PMID 24804716.</ref> Australian science magazine Cosmos states that although the symptoms are real for those who suffer from the condition, doctors need to first eliminate known causes (such as pre-existing cancers or thyroid disease) before reaching definitive conclusions with the caveat that new technologies often bring new, previously unknown health risks.<ref>Swan, Norman (6 July 2015). "Wind farm syndrome and other imaginary ailments - Science cannot explain how wind turbines cause the illness known as wind farm syndrome". Cosmos. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2018.</ref>
Effect on power grid
Utility-scale wind farms must have access to transmission lines to transport energy. The wind farm developer may be obliged to install extra equipment or control systems in the wind farm to meet the technical standards set by the operator of a transmission line.<ref>"BUFFALO GAP WIND FARM, L.L.C., BUFFALO GAP WIND FARM 2, L.L.C., AND BUFFALO GAP WIND FARM 3, L.L.C.'S APPEAL AND COMPLAINT OF ERCOT'S DECISION AND ACTION REGARDING PRR 830 AND MOTION FOR SUSPENSION OF ACTION" (PDF). ERCOT.com. ERCOT. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref>
The intermittent nature of wind power can pose complications for maintaining a stable power grid when wind farms provide a large percentage of electricity in any one region.<ref>Power-eng.com: "Intermitten dinw problems and a possible solution"</ref>
However wind farms are more resistant to military attack than thermal power plants as many missiles are needed to destroy them not just one.<ref>Harding, Luke (1 October 2023). "'Energy war': Ukraine tries to protect electricity supply before winter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 October 2023.</ref>
Ground radar interference
Wind farms can interfere with ground radar systems used for military, weather and air traffic control. The large, rapidly moving blades of the turbines can return signals to the radar that can be mistaken as an aircraft or weather pattern.<ref name="noaaWR">Wind farm interference showing up on Doppler radar National Weather Service. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> Actual aircraft and weather patterns around wind farms can be accurately detected, as there is no fundamental physical constraint preventing that. But aging radar infrastructure is significantly challenged with the task.<ref name="fasWR">Brenner, Michael et al. Wind Farms and Radar Federation of American Scientists, January 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref><ref name="saWR">Greenemeier, Larry. Wind turbine or airplane? New radar could cut through the signal clutter Scientific American, 3 September 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> The US military is using wind turbines on some bases, including Barstow near the radar test facility.<ref name="afRadar">About the R-2508 Airspace Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref><ref name="mcWR">Hayes, Keith. MCLB Barstow wind turbine a Marine Corps first United States Marine Corps, 27 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref>
Effects
The level of interference is a function of the signal processors used within the radar, the speed of the aircraft and the relative orientation of wind turbines/aircraft with respect to the radar. An aircraft flying above the wind farm's turning blades could become impossible to detect because the blade tips can be moving at nearly aircraft velocity. Studies are currently being performed to determine the level of this interference and will be used in future site planning.<ref name="gsnWR">Goodwin, Jacob (3 January 2011). "DHS asks Raytheon to study impact of wind turbines on radar systems". gsnmagazine.com. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> Issues include masking (shadowing), clutter (noise), and signal alteration.<ref name="wefWR">Radars and radio signals Archived 7 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine Wind Energy Facts. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> Radar issues have stalled as much as 10,000 MW of projects in USA.<ref name="ieeeWR">Levitan, David. Wind turbines cause radar cone of silence IEEE, 9 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref>
Some very long range radars are not affected by wind farms.<ref name="ccWR">"Air Force: Cape Wind farm would have no impact on radar station". capecodtoday.com. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref>
Mitigation
Permanent problem solving include a non-initiation window to hide the turbines while still tracking aircraft over the wind farm, and a similar method mitigates the false returns.<ref name="stasysWR">P Jago, N Taylor. Wind turbines and aviation interests – European experience and practice Archived 11 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine pages 10–13, Stasys, 2002. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> England's Newcastle Airport is using a short-term mitigation; to "blank" the turbines on the radar map with a software patch.<ref name="fgWR">Learmount, David. Newcastle airport radar develops fix for wind turbine interference Flight Global, 17 November 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011.</ref> Wind turbine blades using stealth technology are being developed to mitigate radar reflection problems for aviation.<ref name="refVQ">QinetiQ and Vestas test 'stealth technology' for wind turbines Renewable Energy Focus, 26 October 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2010.</ref><ref name="reutVQ">'Stealth' wind turbine blade may end radar problem Reuters via Cnet, 27 January 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.</ref><ref name="trVQ">Fairly, Peter. Stealth-Mode Wind Turbines Technology Review, 2 November 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2010.</ref><ref name="saVQ">Appleton, Steve. Stealth blades – a progress report Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine QinetiQ. Retrieved 22 September 2010.</ref> As well as stealth windfarms, the future development of infill radar systems could filter out the turbine interference.
A mobile radar system, the Lockheed Martin TPS-77, can distinguish between aircraft and wind turbines, and more than 170 TPS-77 radars are in use around the world.<ref>Robert Mendick (27 August 2011). "Military radar deal paves way for more wind farms across Britain". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Outdated</ref>
Federal Aviation Administration advises aircraft without position-reporting technologies such as transponders to avoid flight within 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) at all altitudes from wind turbine farms.<ref>"Chapter 4. Air Traffic Control. Section 5. Surveillance Systems". Federal Aviation Administration. p. 4-5-1.b.(g). Retrieved 16 January 2024.</ref>
Radio reception interference
There are also reports of negative effects on radio and television reception in wind farm communities. Potential solutions include predictive interference modelling as a component of site selection.<ref>
Glenn Cramer (30 October 2009). "Town Councilor regrets High Sheldon Wind Farm (Sheldon, NY)". River City Malone.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
</ref><ref>
"Technology". Broadcast Wind, LLC. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
</ref><ref>"IMPACT OF WIND FARMS ON RADIOCOMMUNICATION SERVICES". TSR (grupo Tratamiento de Señal y Radiocomunicaciones de la UPV/EHU). Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
</ref>
Impact on agriculture
A 2010 study found that in the immediate vicinity of wind farms, the climate is cooler during the day and slightly warmer during the night than the surrounding areas due to the turbulence generated by the blades.<ref name=agriwind1>Roy, Somnath Baidya. Impacts of wind farms on surface air temperatures Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 4 October 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2011.</ref>
In another study an analysis carried out on corn and soybean crops in the central areas of the United States noted that the microclimate generated by wind turbines improves crops as it prevents the late spring and early autumn frosts, and also reduces the action of pathogenic fungi that grow on the leaves. Even at the height of summer heat, the lowering of 2.5–3 degrees above the crops due to turbulence caused by the blades can make a difference for the cultivation of corn.<ref name=agriwind2>Takle, Gene and Lundquist, Julie. Wind turbines on farmland may benefit crops Archived 6 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Ames Laboratory, 16 December 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2011.</ref>
See also
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References
External links
- Map of best places for Wind Turbines around the world
- World Wind Energy Association
- Database of projects throughout the World
- Wind Project Community Organizing
- World Wind Energy Association
- 4C Offshore's Global Wind Farm Interactive Map and Database
- Biggest Wind Farms in the World by Power-Technology
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