[Wind Power Case Studies]
Operational Wind farms in Scotland, Novar Wind Farm, Wind farms in the UK, Beinn Ghlas Wind Farm, Hagshaw Hill Wind Farm, Windy Standard Wind Farm, Blyth Offshore Wind Farm
Rated
Capacity: 17MW = 17000kW
Annual consumption of electricity from a home in Scotland = 3880kWh/year (gas
heated)
= 10127kWh/year (electrical)
Assume capacity factor of 30%
Maximum Electricity Produced per annum (kWh) = 17000 * 8760
= 148920000 kWh
Electricity
Produced per annum (kWh) = 148920000 * 0.35
= 52122000 kWh
Number
of Homes = 52122000 / 3880
= 13433 gas heated homes
= 52122000 / 10127
= 5146 electrical heated homes
Obviously these calculations are not exact as the wind is unpredictable so it cannot be forecast how much power output there will be from a wind farm in a year. There are also power losses from transmission and transformers, which will reduce then number of homes it could supply. These calculations do however provide a better understanding of how much power a wind farm provides.
TThe Novar wind farm can be seen on the map above and is located in Rosshire on the hills of the Novar Estate. The site was commissioned in October 1997 and consists of 34 turbines, which produce a total maximum power output of 17MW. The wind farm is owned and maintained by National Wind Power Ltd.
The wind farm covers 300 hectares of land but the actual turbines themselves cover only approximately 1% of that land area. The land itself is moor land used for grazing purposes and is located at an altitude of 600m above sea level
http://www.britishwindenergy.co.uk/
The Beinn Ghlas wind farm can be seen on the map above and is located in Argyll on the hills of the Barguillean Estate. The site was commissioned in May1999 and consists of 14 turbines, which produce a total maximum output of 8.4MW. The wind farm is owned and maintained by National Wind Power Ltd.
The wind farm covers 300 hectares of land but the actual turbines themselves cover only approximately 1% of that land area. The land itself is moor land used for grazing purposes and is located at an altitude of approximately 390m – 460m above sea level.
The Hagshaw Hill wind farm can be seen on the map above and is located in Lanarkshire, 4km west of Douglas. The site was the first wind farm in Scotland and was commissioned in November 1995; it consists of 26 turbines, which produce a total maximum output of 15.6MW. The wind farm is owned and maintained by Scottish Power.
This is Scotland largest wind farm!
The Windy Standard wind farm can be seen on the map above and is located in Galloway on the hills above the Carsphairn Forest. The site was commissioned in September 1996 and consists of 36 turbines, which produce a total maximum output of 21.6MW. The wind farm is owned and maintained by National Wind Power Ltd.
The wind farm covers 350 hectares of land but the actual turbines themselves cover only approximately 1% of that land area. The land itself is moor land and is located at an altitude of approximately 500m – 680m above sea level.
This is currently the only offshore wind farm in the UK. The farm is located at Blyth Harbour, Northumberland in England and can be seen on the map. The site was commissioned in December 2000 and consists of 2 turbines, which produce a total maximum output of 3.8 MW. The wind farm is owned and maintained by Blyth Offshore Wind Ltd.
The farm is exposed to the full forces of the North Sea and is located about 1km from the shore on an area of permanently submerged rock. The minimum water depth at the site is 6m with a tidal range of 5m and 8m waves are expected at the site.
http://www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk/
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