The Largest Wind Farms
3 min read
Wind turbines in this wind farm occupy a significant portion of the cost and utilize the regular wind patterns of this region.
In the past, wind farms have been established on land predominantly but recently the relative installed capacity of offshore wind farms started to grow. Altogether, the installed capacity of all wind turbines already has crossed the 230,000 MW mark.
Wind farms can be divided into onshore wind farms and offshore wind farms. On land, regions with high mean winds and sparse population are selected. One wind farm can count up to thousands of wind turbines. Construction and connection of the turbines to the grid is relatively simple. Offshore installations in open seas often need to be anchored fairly deep and special underwater cables have to be used to connect them to the grid. Nevertheless, these wind farms enjoy better wind conditions over the sea surface than onshore farms. They are not limited by human dwellings and they do not disturb the environment.
The largest onshore wind farms
| Name | Installed capacity [MW] |
Location | Commissioned | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roscoe Wind Farm | 781.5 | USA, Texas | 2009 | 627 turbines, 400 km2 |
| Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center | 735.5 | USA, Texas | 2006 | 421 turbines, 190 km2 |
| Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm | 662.5 | USA, Texas | 2008 | 407 turbines |
| Fowler Ridge Wind Farm | 599.8 | USA, Indiana | 2010 | 355 turbines, 2 stages |
| Sweetwater Wind Farm | 585.3 | USA | 2007 | 5 construction stages |
| Buffalo Gap Wind Farm | 523.3 | USA, Texas | 2008 | 296 turbines |
| Dabancheng Wind Farm | 500 | China | ||
| Vlorë Wind Farm | 500 | Albania | 2010 | 250 turbines |
| Panther Creek Wind Farm | 458 | USA, Texas | 2009 | 305 turbines, 2 stages |
| Biglow Canyon Wind Farm | 450 | USA, Oregon | 2010 | 225 turbines, 100 km2 |
10 pictures
10 pictures
Largest offshore wind farms
| Name | Installed capacity [MW] | Location | Commissioned | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanet | 300 | UK | 2010 | 100 turbines × 3 MW |
| Horns Rev II | 209 | Denmark | 2009 | 91 turbines |
| Rødsand II | 207 | Denmark | 2010 | 90 turbines |
| Lynn and Inner Dowsing | 194 | UK | 2008 | 54 turbines |
| Robin Rigg (Solway Firth) | 180 | UK | 2010 | 60 turbines × 3 MW |
| Gunfleet Sands | 172 | UK | 2010 | 48 turbines |
| Nysted (Rødsand I) | 166 | Denmark | 2003 | 72 turbines |
| Bligh Bank (Belwind I) | 165 | Belgium | 2010 | 55 turbines × 3 MW |
| Horns Rev I | 160 | Denmark | 2002 | 80 turbines × 2 MW |
| Princess Amalia | 120 | Netherlands | 2008 | 60 turbines × 2 MW |
A wind turbine with a low-rpm multipolar generator that is connected directly to the rotor, without a gearbox.
Installed Capacity Growth
The overall installed capacity of wind power plants is growing at an unprecedented rate in the last years and in 2011 the capacity of 230,000 MW was reached. The greatest wind harnessing power in 2010 was China with its 42 GW of installed capacity. The USA is second with 40 GW and Germany is third with its 27 GW, followed by Spain and India.
4 pictures
4 pictures
