Wind power has rapidly grown in recent years as countries seek to increase their renewable energy sources. As interest in solar and other renewable forms of energy grows, the world’s largest wind farms have gotten even bigger.
Throughout this article, we will examine some of the most powerful and largest wind farms in the world and explore what makes them so interesting.
What Are Wind Farms?
Wind farms are a collection of big wind turbines that capture the wind’s energy. They resemble super tall windmills and can have hundreds of them spread across hundreds of miles of land. Sometimes, the land between the turbines is for farming, and some wind farms are near lakes or oceans to harness the wind that blows across these bodies of water.
Wind farms must located in windy spots to harness wind energy. The wind turns the turbines’ blades, converting the wind energy into mechanical power. Generators then use that mechanical power and turn it into electricity for homes. Think of a wind turbine as the reverse of a fan. While fans use electricity to create wind, wind turbines use the wind to generate electricity. As the wind blows the blades, it spins the shaft connected to a generator, producing the electricity we use.
Setting up wind farms can be pricey, but they’re competitive with other types of power generation systems in the long run. The catch is that wind power is only sometimes available when you need it. New technology will make wind power even more appealing, including the possibility of storing wind energy in batteries for later use. Currently, wind power makes up about 3% of the US’s electricity, with a 20% growth estimation by 2030.
The Largest Wind Farms in the World
1. Jiuquan Wind Power Base, China
China’s Jiuquan Wind Power Base boasts 7,000 turbines, making it the world’s largest wind farm. It can generate 20 GW at peak capacity, but right now, it’s only using 40% due to weak demand and its remote location in the Gobi desert.
The State Grid Corporation of China is working on a solution, developing a 750 KW high-voltage energy line to connect the wind farm to areas with more people. This $17.5 billion project has the potential to power over a million homes.
China is a leader in wind energy, with over 92,000 turbines generating 145 GW of clean energy, more than all of the wind farms in the US combined. They’re adding even more turbines at over one per hour, striving to fully realize the benefits of wind energy.
2. Jaisalmer Wind Park, India
India’s biggest wind farm, the 1,600MW Jaisalmer wind park, was built by Suzlon Energy in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. Suzlon constructed the wind farms for various customers, like private and public companies, independent power producers, and power utilities. Some notable clients include Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals, and CLP India. They equipped the wind farms with a mix of wind turbine models made by Suzlon, like the S97-120m, S97-2.1MW, and S111-90m.
3. Alta Wind Energy Centre, US
The Alta Wind Energy Centre is a massive wind farm spread across 3,200 acres in the Californian desert. It’s got 490 wind turbines that generate a whopping 1,547 MW of clean energy. Terra-Gen Power built this behemoth for $2,875 billion, and it was commissioned in 2010 after 7 phases of construction.
This wind farm is crucial in helping the USA reach its renewable energy target of 20% by 2020. By generating clean energy, it’s stopping over 5.2 million metric tons of CO2 from polluting the air; that’s the same as taking 446,000 cars off the road! The energy generated here goes to Southern California Edison.
4. Muppandal Wind Farm, India
Muppandal is India’s biggest onshore wind farm, located in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. This wind farm is spread across a group of wind farms in the area and generates 1,500MW of clean energy. Muppandal is an excellent spot for a wind farm because it has a lot of barren lands with high-pressure winds, perfect for capturing wind energy.
And, thanks to the nearby Western Ghats mountain range, the area receives solid winds for nine months out of the year. Different parts of the Muppandal wind farm have various capacities and feature turbines from other manufacturers like Vestas, NEPC India, AMTL, TTG, and Suzlon.
5. Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, US
The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm is a massive 30-square-mile wind farm that produces a whopping 845 MW of clean energy. This farm was built by Caithness Energy in 2010 and is situated in Arlington, East Oregon. It was their first and only wind farm project.
It started operating in 2012 with 338 turbines and can power 240,000 homes while preventing 1 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from being introduced into the atmosphere yearly. The US Department of Energy gave the project a loan of $1.3 billion, and the final estimated cost was $2.9 billion.
6. Roscoe Wind Farm, US
The Roscoe Wind Farm is located in Roscoe, Texas, and was once the largest wind farm in the world. Spanning 100,000 acres, it can generate 781.5 MW of clean energy using 634 turbines and supply energy to over 250,000 homes. Not only that, but it also helps the environment by preventing 375,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year.
Construction of the wind farm was done in four phases by E. On Climate and Renewables and cost around $1 billion. With this wind farm, Texas is reducing its dependency on fossil fuels and providing electricity for a quarter of a million homes in the state.
7. Horse Hollow Wind Energy Centre, Texas
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Centre started as just one phase back in 2005, but it’s now grown to three phases and can crank out 735.5 MW of energy. It spans a massive 60,000 acres across Taylor and Nolan County, Texas.
NextEra owns the farm, but Blattner Energy did all the building, engineering, and procurement work. With 421 turbines, it produces enough juice to power 180,000 homes.
8. Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm, Texas
The Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm in Texas is owned by NextEra Energy Resources and is located in Sterling and Coke Counties. It was built in two phases starting in 2007 and now has 407 turbines generating 662.5 MW of energy, adequate to power 220,000 homes. The farm helps the environment by preventing 952,000 tons of CO2 emissions from being in the atmosphere each year, which is like taking 186,000 cars off the road. JP Morgan Chase also invested $225 million in the project.
9. Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm, UK
The Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm is a 659MW power plant located in the Irish Sea, close to Walney Island in Cumbria. It’s a joint venture, with Ørsted owning 50% and the remaining half split between PKA and PFA.
It spans 145km² in the Irish Sea and has 87 Vestas and Siemens Gamesa turbines. This wind farm officially started operation in September 2018 and generates enough electricity to power around 600,000 homes in the UK. The energy is sent to shore through two big offshore substations.
10. London Array Offshore Wind Farm, UK
The London Array Offshore Wind Farm is a big deal – it’s the largest offshore wind farm in the world with a whopping 630MW capacity. It’s located off the coasts of Kent and Essex, in the outer Thames Estuary, about 20km from shore.
This giant wind farm was opened in July 2013 and is a collaboration between Denmark’s Dong Energy, Germany’s E.On, and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar. The project took a while to get up and running, with construction starting in March 2011 and installing the final turbine in December 2012.
With a price tag of £3bn ($4.8bn), the London Array comprises 175 Siemens 3.6MW wind turbines, each towering 87m above sea level with a rotor diameter of 120m. It’s generating enough energy to power about two-thirds of Kent’s households.
Bottomline
In conclusion, wind farms provide clean and renewable energy to communities worldwide. The largest wind farms help reduce dependence on non-renewable energy sources and significantly reduce the number of carbon emissions produced by traditional energy sources.
The developments in wind turbine technology have allowed wind farms to generate more energy than ever before, making them a more cost-effective and practical solution for many countries. From the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon to the London Array Offshore Wind Farm in the UK, these large wind farms are leading the way in harnessing the power of the wind to create a more sustainable future for us all.
Interested in harnessing the power of the wind? Home wind turbines are an eco-friendly, renewable energy source. Find out how to choose and benefit from home wind turbines.
