Transcript Notes: Wind
Welcome!
Please get your interactive
notebook and read the board!
Harnessing the Wind – we’re
#1!
Current largest wind
farm: Horse Hollow
Wind Energy Center
421 wind turbines
735 megawatts.
47,000 acres of land in
Taylor and Nolan
County, Texas.
Texas’ next “cash crop”?
500,000 Texas homes
currently, expanding 10
times in next decade
In 2012, wind
generated 10,407
megawatts
(1 megawatt = 500
homes)
13% of state’s
electricity
Interactive notebook!
Title: Wind Power
Date: May 1
How does it work?
How does it work?
Area swept by blades
can be size of 747 plane
Tips of blades can be
going 200mph
Height – 240ft (taller
than Statue of Liberty)
Nacelle – size of
greyhound bus
How does it work?
World’s largest German turbine: (394-feet)
behemoth capable of generating 5 MW
Need 8 mi/hr winds to
generate electricity; max
electrical production at 1518 mi/hr winds; turbines
cut off at 55 mi/hr winds
Yaw motor – nacelle moves
to face turbine directly into
wind
Applications
Typical wind farm:
100Megawatts (MW)
Coal fired power plant
– 500-600 MW
One 1.5MW turbine
could power about 350
homes/year
*The Grid connects electric
sources to consumers wind grid
So what if you currently have wind
electricity? Do your lights go out
on still days?
Best wind is in the morning, but peak
demand is in the afternoon
Advantages
No air pollution
Can use land for
grazing
Renewable
Domestic
Able to use current
electric grid
Disadvantages
Land use – requires
space
Bird and bat deaths
Winds peak in morning
and March-May
Power up!
www.texaseletricitychoice.com
Research: innovative wind
applications – what’s new?