Photo of Clipper’s 2.5 Megawatt turbine — the 7.5 megawatt turbine will be much larger.
The Queen is investing in the world’s largest wind turbine. It’s a prototype of a new line of wind turbines called “The Britannia” which will be produced by Clipper Windpower, based in California. The turbine tower stands about 328 feet, has a diameter of 492 feet, and can generate 7.5 megawatts. Currently, the largest installed wind turbine is the massive Enercon E-126, which is rated at 7 megawatts (see of our previous post here).
The sale was made to the British Crown Estate, which owns most of the seabed off Britain’s shores, regularly leases out its land to wind farm projects but has never invested in the turbines. The prototype turbine is part of Britain’s ambitious goal of generating 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2020.
The Crown Estate press release says:
This investment will allow The Crown Estate to gain firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing the development of wind turbines specialised for deep water marine deployment as the process of engaging industry to develop the next phase of offshore windfarms begins. If the industry is to reach the current delivery target of a total capacity of up to 33 GW by 2020, this kind of support and research will be invaluable.
In addition to a unique and diverse property portfolio, encompassing urban and rural estates, the marine interests of The Crown Estate include almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles and around 55 per cent of the UK’s coastal foreshore. In addition, The Crown Estate has the rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles.
Via: Crown Estate Press Release
Read more! Related stories:
- $2 Billion Wind Turbine Order Is Largest Ever
- New Record: Wind Powers 40% Of Spain
- The Tallest Wind Turbines In The U.S. Installed In Texas
- UK Plans 25 Gigawatts Of Offshore Wind
- The Largest Wind Farm In The World: Horse Hollow
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think it will probably be 328 feet tall, as if it was meters it would be taller than the Eiffel tower, and over twice the E-126
the article states feet
“The turbine tower stands about 328 feet, has a diameter of 492 feet, and can generate 7.5 megawatts.”
the problem with a roughly 500 foot diamter is that the tip speed of the blade goes supersonic at decent rpm. blades are very Noisy even at mach .8 … i hope these people have thier aero-smarts for such a thing. mach 1 = roughly 1100 ft/sec – circumference of a 492 foot rotor at tip is 1545 feet . Tip speed is going to take some fancy airfoil design.
Hi there, i am a company in uk and operate in
africa also, i am much into renewable energy
[solar panels and windturbines], i would like
to have some informations on this 7.5mw wind turbine, and the estimated costing of it, and whether the blades can come longer and do they really have to travel at 180kph , and how long
does it take to build such a magnificient monster. Thanks
This article should be printed in many newspaper as there is still much misunderstanding about windpower and the immense technical advances that has bin made.
Even within the industry much has to be done in way of education to maintain the modern generators, gearboxes and brakes.
This article is well written for the average person to understand and keep up the good work.
Best regards,
Rene Thoeni
ALPINE TECHNOLOGY INC.
The facts on this article are a little off. The Enercon E-126 has a 126 meter rotor diameter (413 feet). Also the revolution per min of these blades is 12 rpm. 1297.48 feet circumferance so at 12*1297.48 * 60 min/hr =934183.99 feet per hour. 934183.99ft / 5280 ft/mile = 176.92 miles per hour way less than the 654.6 mph (speed of sound).
Thank you for your good articls .
‘Propeller Towers’ are not new or perfectable means of deriving power from wind. Yes they work, and the “Spruce Goose” did fly, but it was proven after decades of denials, that ‘Propeller ‘ designs were not the optimum means of Aviation propulsion except for helicopters. After all air is a fluid according to Bernoulli’s theory, and in wind, air flows parallel to the Earth, so its’ optimal force , capture and utility require a vertical axis ‘True Turbine.’ The very trend of pawning off ‘Propeller Towers’ as ‘Wind Turbines’ is itself a perversion or the definition of ‘Turbine.’ Propellers with airfoil design and lift coefficients were indeed ‘New ‘ over a hundred years ago enabling powered air flight, but its designers then conceded there were limits. So, in a few years when the financing sinks in and the problems leak out, will developing real Wind “TURBINES” become a sudden fad surpassing Propeller Towers’ like “JET” aircraft for commercial aviation finally caught on in the ’60’s and even into the ’70’s after about 30 years of ‘telling them so!’ Optimum wind force capture utilizing vertical axis, multiple contoured, proportionally large sail fins, with an open center integral generator hub, conforms to directional flows with ever the same rotational compatibility and gyroscopic stability. This increases cost efficiency many ways. We are not the only ones aware of these advantages, but the “Propeller Tower’ promotors are chasing the wind for their own profits, and cheap and reliable power generation does not generate huge profits and get big attention like the Fad and Trend of ‘Big Wind,’ like mindless crowds waving at a Rock Show!
‘Big Bucks,’ ‘Big Risk’ global capital ventures that end up producing “Big and Bigger Excuses,” like, “where did all that money go?” they can simply say…
“oh, it must have all just blown away!” It is like snobs in the auto market. The more ‘expensive,’ the more ‘prestigeous,’ and the costly ‘exotic,’ always needing more repairs and “Refinements.’ These models are the ones most desireed and are of course the most expensive. Odd how evolved Icons like “Cadillac, Lamborgini, Rolls Royce”are ‘not for everyone, but they are basicly ‘Cars.” Now the Queen of England must have, of course, the biggest new model Wind tower. You’d think it was a competition for new “S U V’s! I guess they do look like “Mercedes” emblems though, maybe that’s it!
Observation: Why are the so called “moral majority” types so quick to accuse anyone in favor of alternative energy a “lib” or a a “green”? So if you want to stop sending $’s overseas to buy oil or enrich some Coal fatcat who wants to level half your county to get the coal out you are automatically a “lib”? Boneheads!
in Response to the comments left by Advanced Designs, Inc/ Isaac Kepler, whilst it may be true that vertical axis turbines could potentially produce more energy, the current reality is that they are less efficient than their propellor counterparts. Once the design of these surpasses propellors I’m sure they shall become the main focus of wind power.
If they are out to sea at least they are not damaging our landscapes. Prince Charles has written passionately about the built environment and how it impacts the psyche. Wind turbines are like the creatures from War of the Worlds. They are like putting up huge skyscapers in rural areas … totally inappropriate. And all this is being done for what reason? To maintain current electricity consumption patterns.
Well, my friends, the feasibility of these turbines reducing the need for conventional power sources is an illusion. This is just another crazy scheme that will have its bust cycle, and not too far off either. Lower-consuming lifestyles might sound unsexy, but that is what we will all be dealing with in the future. Polluting our environments with expensive, destructive wind turbines will not forestall an inevitable economic transformation.
@ Isaac Kepler – Turbines may be more efficient, but they’re also noisier. Likely they are also more expensive to maintain and build.