A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. Individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system and communications network. At a substation, this medium-voltage electrical current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the high voltage transmission system. Two new large farms were announced recently. Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo, one of the world’s largest bread makers, has broken ground on its $200 million Piedra Larga wind farm in Oaxaca, Mexico, which will generate almost 100% of the electrical power consumed by all of Bimbo’s operations in Mexico once completed in late 2011.
Deepwater Wind announced that it has applied to federal authorities to build what it what is supposed to be the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. The application was made in late October to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement to lease a 270-square-mile area between Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The new Mexican wind farm will have an installed power of 90 megawatts, enough to meet the energy demands of the company’s 65 facilities country-wide including production facilities, office buildings, and operations centers.
Grupo Bimbo CEO, Daniel Servitje, called the effort the greatest the world food industry has seen to date. "The construction of this wind farm is the cornerstone in our effort to continue growing with nature's force; making us the first company in the food industry to make this great change to use renewable energy sources. It represents an unprecedented effort in the use of renewable, clean and virtually endless energy: The green energy."
The proposed new 200-turbine farm in Rhode Island Sound would be called Deepwater Wind Energy Center. It is a 1,000MW project designed to replace a 350MW proposal put forward two years ago by the company. Pricing for kilowatt-hour has been slated to start from 23.5 cents.
According to Brighter Energy, building work is planned to start in 2014 with operation scheduled for 2015. The cost of the project is estimated at $5 billion.
Despite rising 525 feet above water, Deepwater says the turbines would not be visible from land because they would be installed 18 miles from Rhode Island.
These are just two of the newer wind farms. Many more particularly in Europe exist.
Even China, often criticized for their polluting ways are adding wind farms. In the wind energy sector, China recently flipped the switch on the 102 megawatt commercial offshore wind farm located Shanghai called the Donghai Bridge Wind Farm just this year.
Another new offshore wind farm is to be developed as a part of China’s continuing renewable energy program. Based in Bohai Bay, three hours from Beijing, the wind farm is slated to be completed sometime in 2020 and to boast an impressive energy output of 1,000 megawatts. Upon completion , the Bohai Bay Wind Farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world as it surpasses the 300 megawatt Thanet Wind Farm that was commissioned this year off the coast of the England.
ADVERTISEMENT
By. Andy Soos
