Olympic Park Receives Green Energy Boost

August 1st, 2012 by Joshua S Hill

The London 2012 Olympic Games are being heralded as the “greenest games ever,” and one of the latest green boosts to the game has come to the centre of the Games, Olympic Park, home to eight Olympic venues, including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, and Velodrome, and now seven wind turbines specifically designed for urban environments.

The Stratford site was originally supposed to be home to a single massive three-blade turbine, but that idea was rejected due to the likelihood that the turbine wouldn’t be any good in the urban environment.

Organisers confirmed on Tuesday that seven vertical axis wind turbines had been installed on the grounds of Olympic Park. Provided by British wind turbine manufacturer Quiet Revolution, the 18-metre tall turbines boast an 8kW capacity and are capable of providing up to 7,500 kWh of power a year if the average wind speeds hover around seven metres a second.

A spokesman for the Olympic Delivery Authority said each turbine cost £40,000, adding that they are expected to pay for themselves within 12 years.

“Sustainability has been designed into the project from the beginning, and as a result the ODA will significantly exceed its 50 per cent target to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction of the Olympic Park,” he said.

“These seven turbines serve a valuable dual function by providing 40 per cent of the energy for high-powered streetlights as well contributing to the overall renewable energy target. The turbines are connected to the Park’s energy supply, which feed renewable energy into the Olympic Park energy network during the day, which offsets power used by the lamp at night.”

Source: BusinessGreen
Image Source: Luke Robinson

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: london 2012, Olympic Park, Olympics, vertical axis wind turbines, vertical-axis turbine, wind turbines london, wind turbines london olympics, wind turbines olympics

About the Author

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.