Wind farms

Wind farms

Unfortunately, fossil fuels are not unlimited. Every year, stocks are getting smaller. So that the moment of complete depletion of resources does not come, mankind has reached alternative energy. In other words, now a person can receive electricity from the energy of the sun, wind, water. In this article we will consider what a wind power plant is and how it works, what types of wind farms exist, and we will analyze all their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we give examples of well-known world manufacturers of windmills, which can be found on the market.

The content of the article

• The Principle of Operation of a wind farm      
• Devices and type of wind power plants              
• Advantages and disadvantages of a wind farm
•  World leading manufacturers      

·    Danish company    

·    German production Nordex    

·   Germans Superwind       

·    Spanish Company Ecotecnia    

·      French Company Vergnet  

• The largest power station     
• Review of popular models of world manufacturers    The principle of operation of a wind farm
  Regardless of the type of power plant, its principle of operation is one: a stream of wind of certain strength spins the blades of a wind generator. The following literally happens - the moving part rotates, transmitting the same rotation directly to the generator. Due to this, an electric flow is formed in the system. 
  Then he charges the installed batteries, which are connected to the inverters. They, in turn, convert the resulting current to normal voltage, which is necessary to power the devices, equipment and equipment. To obtain a greater amount of power, individual wind generators are connected to the network, thus forming a wind power station.

If the wind farm is divided into two main types, then they are rotary and winged. The first are equipped with a vertical axis of rotation, due to which they are more convenient in operation, low noise and are not tied to the direction of the wind. But, in turn, rotor stations are considered less efficient and productive and are most often installed at small, private stations.

To generate energy on a large, industrial scale, wing systems are used. However, maintenance and installation are much more complicated. Vane windmills are important to position in the right direction of the wind to get more performance.

Devices and types of wind power plants

A wind farm produces electric current. Industrial and large wind farms consist of several large windmills that are connected to the same network. Their capacity is enough to provide electricity to villages, towns and cities. Small stations produce less power, but even it can be enough to satisfy the energy requirements of a small array. 

By functionality

Wind farms can be divided into:

• stationary
• mobile

Depending on the location of the wind farm there are:

• ground
• coastal
• floating
• offshore

Also, stations can be divided 

By type of structure

• rotary
• winged

Advantages and disadvantages of a wind farm

The most basic advantage of a wind farm is its independence from fossil fuels. To work and generate electricity, wind farms use a completely free source - wind. In addition, the wind farm does not cause nature any damage, such as, for example, hydroelectric power plants. That is, we can say that the wind farm is an environmentally friendly and harmless method of generating energy.

However, there are some disadvantages, among which the main one can highlight the high cost of equipment. As a result, this affects the price of the final product - wind energy. Speaking about the financial side, it is worth mentioning the long and practically absent payback of equipment. In addition, a large number of batteries are also required to save energy, since the wind is not always there, which provokes interruptions in generation. Among the minuses, one can also name the high noise from the operation of windmills and the low level of efficiency, which is almost impossible to increase. 

World leading manufacturers 

Since the alternative energy market is constantly growing and developing, there are a huge number of companies specializing in the construction of wind generators. Among a large number of companies, we identified the five most popular and reliable.

Danish company Vestas

The company Vestas Wind Systems A / S with one of the first to manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind even in 1986 year. Since then, she has achieved tremendous success in the alternative energy industry. Vestas are one of the largest developers of wind farms. The company has about 10 thousand MW of power from all units produced.

German production Nordex

The company was founded in 1985, even before the demand for wind turbines in the world increased in the first half of the 90s. From the very beginning, Nordex focused on large and powerful turbines. In just two years, in 1995, the company installed the world's largest 1000 kW N54 wind turbine. With the commercially available Generation Gamma multi-megawatt wind turbines, the company can offer high-performance wind turbines for ground use. Since 2013, Nordex has launched Delta Generation for strong, medium and light winds.

Germans Super wind

It simply designs, designs and manufactures its highest quality products to meet customer needs. The company works closely with system integrators and highly qualified distributors around the world.

Spanish company Ecotecnia

Ecotècnia was a manufacturer and installer of wind turbines, founded in 1981 with headquarters in Barcelona . The company's first wind generator was a 30 kW installation, developed in 1984 with financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science. With time and active development, the company increased the output power of its wind turbine to 1.67 MW. And by 2007 Ecotècnia installed wind farms with a total capacity of more than 1 GW. The main product that has conquered the whole world is the 6 MW Haliade offshore wind turbine, one of the most powerful turbines on Earth.

French company Vergnet

Founded in 1989, Vergnet has over 25 years of engineering excellence experience. The main office is in Orleans, France. The company has 166 employees in 10 offices around the world, working in more than 40 countries. To date, Vergnet has installed more than 900 wind turbines, completed more than 45 MW of solar projects and developed a number of unique hybrid energy solutions, including the first of its kind Hybrid Wizard ™. The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) awarded Vergnet the prestigious 2013 World Wind Energy Award, which is awarded annually to individuals and organizations that have made a huge contribution to the use of wind energy worldwide.

The largest power station

The largest wind generator in size and power produced in the world is considered Enercon E-126 (Enercon E-126). The manufacturer of the giant is a German company specializing in the design, construction and installation of wind farms. The first such windmill was installed back in 2007 in the German city of Emden. Then its capacity was 6 MW. Later, in 2009, they modernized the turbine, increasing the capacity to 7.58 MW. Note that no matter how reliable the wind generator is, its power still fluctuates depending on weather conditions.

But what remains the same is the sheer size. The wind turbine has a height of the main column of 135 meters, and the diameter of the movable rotor is 127 meters. That is, if the blade rises, the total height of the structure reaches 198 meters. And the weight of the windmill is 6000 tons.

In the photo below we show the size of this giant. In the first picture, it might seem that the blade of a windmill is simply huge, but this is only half of it. 

The second photo shows the whole Enercon blade. 

Also presented are photos where the windmill can be compared with other things of the usual size to us.

Review of popular models of world manufacturers

Danish company Vestas launches V112 wind turbine . A distinctive feature of this model is that the company produces both a marine turbine, which can be placed on the shelf zone, and onshore. Vestas turbines are huge industrial windmills with a rotor diameter of 112 meters and a rated power of 3,000 kW. The windmill operates at different wind speeds - from 4 to 23 m / s. Six such windmills were installed in 2017 in the Lviv region, at the wind farm “Old Sambir-2”.

Another industrial windmill, but already made in Ukraine from the Furlender Windtechnology company . WTU-2.0 has a rated power of 2 mW, and the rotor diameter reaches 100 meters. The minimum wind speed at which the windmill operates is 3 m / s, and the maximum is 25 m / s. 22 WTU-2.0 windmills from Furlender Windtechnology were commissioned in Kazakhstan.

The German company Enercon produces three models of E66 ground wind turbines of different capacities: 1500 kW, 1800 kW and 2000 kW. The diameter of their rotor is unchanged, despite the different power produced, and is 66 meters. Three-bladed windmills operate at a minimum rotor speed of 8 rpm and a maximum of 22 rpm. 

Also in Germany there is an enterprise producing small windmills, more similar for private use. As an example - Nordex N27 , which include turbines of different capacities: 150 kW, 225 kW and 250 kW. The diameter of the rotor moving part reaches 27 meters. These are old models that are now difficult to find in the market new and they are sold mostly in a used state. The average price varies between 22 and 25 thousand euros.

Incredible performance also has a Siemens wind generator SWT-7.0-154 . Its power reaches 7 MW, and the diameter of the moving part is 154 meters. The giant works with a minimum wind speed of 3 m / s and a maximum of 25 m / s. Three-bladed windmill operates on direct drive and on one generator. The cost is formed individually for the customer, based on production volumes and the number of wind turbines.