Wind Power Plant Development, Operations and Management Locations Locator Map and Directory

State of the art technology

In contrast to the windmills of the 19th century, a modern power generating wind turbine is designed to produce high-quality, network frequency electricity whenever enough wind is available. Wind turbines can operate continuously, unattended, with low maintenance, and some 120,000 hours of active operation can be expected over a design lifetime of 20 years. By comparison, a typical car engine has a design lifetime of the order of 6,000 hours. Since the early 1980s, the capacity of an individual turbine has increased by a factor of over 200. Generation costs have declined by 80%. Modular and quick to install, wind turbines range in size from a few kilowatts (kW) to 5,000 kW. Wind turbines are highly reliable, with operating availabilities (the proportion of the time in which they are available to operate) of 98%. No other electricity generating technology has a higher availability. Many developments and improvements have taken place since the early 1980s but the basic architecture of the mainstream design has changed little. The rotors of most wind turbines face into the wind, and actively ‘yaw’ to follow changes in wind direction. Wind farm developments can be as small as a single turbine or as large as several hundred megawatts (thousand kW). Sited in an area with a good wind resource, a single 1 MW turbine can power 650 households.

Key advantages of wind power

* Clean energy - no resulting carbon dioxide
* Low cost at optimum locations, wind can be competitive with nuclear, coal and even gas, on a level playing field
* Rapid deployment modular and quick to install
* Fuel is free, abundant and inexhaustible
* Provides a hedge against fuel price volatility
* Security of supply - avoids reliance on imported fuels
* Provides bulk power equivalent to conventional sources
* Land friendly - agricultural/industrial activities can continue around it