Vestas to Test World’s Longest Turbine Blades
Doesn’t it seem fitting that Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, should be the maker of the world’s largest wind turbine? Well, they’re not – at least not yet. Today, Vestas revealed plans (pdf) for a new research and development center on the Isle of Wight (UK) that will test what company officials are calling “the world’s longest turbine” blades.
While Vestas did not say exactly how long the new prototype turbine blade will be, their largest turbine currently in production, the V-90, has blades that measure 44 meters in length. The largest wind turbine currently in operation is the 6MW Enercon E-126, which has a rotor diameter of 126 meters (413 ft).
The new development center will accompany an existing Vestas plant on the Isle of Wight that has produced turbine blades since 2000. The new facility is expected to become operational in 2010.
Vestas‘ second quarter net profit rose 27% to 65 million euros ($96 million) as revenue rose 2.5% to 1.09 billion euros.
Other Posts on the Wind Energy Industry:
- A Big Week for Vestas Wind Systems
- World’s Largest Wind Farm Planned for Oregon
- Vestas to Create 1,350 Jobs at New Wind Turbine Plant in Colorado
Photo: Hurst
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August 15th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard%27s_Knob
I guess it didn’t show the link in the first one, sorry bout the double post.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Tim:
Just out of curiosity, does bigger imply better? I always thought that an underlying goal for using distributed sources like wind and solar power was to reduce dependence on huge corporations and move energy production to a more local mode.
How do wind turbines with blades measuring more than 400 feet in diameter – which means they reach higher into the sky than a 50 story building – fit into that concept?
August 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Rod,
I think it depends who you ask. The underlying goal for many supporters of distributed renewable sources is localizing and democratizing power generation, but there are also powerful, moneyed interests that just have the goal of building more capacity, regardless of who owns it.
With that said, I don’t think a 6MW turbine is necessarily incommensurate with a co-operative or community ownership model.
August 17th, 2008 at 6:18 am
“Storing solar energy in batteries remains costly and inefficient. But that may not be true for much longer.
MIT researchers have discovered a way to store solar energy that could make solar power in homes a mainstream energy option and might even make power companies obsolete, at least for residential needs.”
Just search for “MIT Hydrogen” in Google News to read about the breakthrough … could this be the big one that finally frees us from fossil fuels?
August 17th, 2008 at 6:33 am
dunno if my post got lost
hope this isnt a dupe..
the amount of energy you can potentially extract
depends on the square of the length of the turbine
because the surface area it presents to the wind is Pi r *squared*
so doubling the length of a turbine quadruples the power etc
you get much more energy per metre of length
so bigger is always better
and as you say – a local community can pool resources and buy a big one
August 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am
The larger blades move slower in relation to wind speed and power output. Basically, they have more torque which can be easier to convert into higher RPMs via some gearboxes. Smaller blades cannot push the gearboxes to as high speeds.
Studies have shown that the larger blades, along with being cheaper per watt, also are way less likely to injure birds/wildlife.
So, it’s cheaper, and even more environmentally sound to use them where you can. Yes, at some point it would rock to be able to co-operatively own them, but the tech needs to be built up to the proper point before we can really get to doing that.
JC
August 17th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
[...] Vestas to Test World
August 18th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Hi Tim, Ive been doing a lot of reading on the matter and it seems that the bigger blades produce more energy and because the rotate slower are not a harmful to birds.
August 19th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
While Vestas did not say exactly how long the new prototype turbine blade will be, their largest turbine currently in production, the V-90, has blades that measure 44 meters in length. The largest wind turbine currently in operation is the 6MW Enercon E-126, which has a rotor diameter of 126 meters (413 ft).
September 8th, 2008 at 12:31 am
[...] to consumers. The majority of that energy is still sourced from fossil fuels. Obviously the larger your bits and pieces, the more energy this [...]