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A wind farm is a collection of Wind Turbine s all in the same location and used for the Generation of Electricity . Wind farms, also called a wind park, can be positioned on land or offshore. In Europe , offshore farms are more common, while they are just starting to be implemented in the United States . WIND FARMS (FACTORIES) IN THE UNITED STATES The U.S. has several of the largest wind farms in the world. The three largest, Altamont Pass , San Gorgonio Pass and Tehachapi Pass , are located in California . However, they are actually collections of dozens of individual wind farms. The farms have many different owners, turbine types and have been constructed, retrofitted and occasionally dismantled over several decades. As Of 2005 all three of these areas are seeing renewed growth. Primarily, the old, small wind turbines are being replaced with much larger, more efficient wind turbines. Some of the workhorses of the past were only 90 Kilowatt s (kW), though some were several hundred kW in size. Today, the smallest utility-scale wind turbines are about 700 kW, with some models approaching 5,000 kW (5 MW). Secondarily, non-functional turbines are also being returned to service. The Altamont Pass in Northern California is one of the earliest large wind farms. This is composed of large numbers of relatively small wind turbines of various types. They were installed after the 1970s Energy Crisis in response to favorable tax policies for investors. However, the types of incentives the government uses has led to an unhealthy cycle of booms and busts for the wind energy industry. The problems were not so much with the wind turbines themselves. Only a few of the turbine designs were fatally flawed and almost all of the others were able to be rehabilitated into excellent machines. Still, these numerous small turbines are being gradually replaced with much larger and more cost-effective units. An advantage of the Altamont Pass site is that under hot inland ( Central Valley ) conditions, a Thermal Low is developed that brings in cool coastal marine air, driving the turbines at a time of maximum need. However, this phenomenon is not always reliable and with an inland high pressure condition the entire region can be both hot and windless. At this time additional power must be provided by Natural Gas -powered Gas Turbine Peaker Plants . The turbines are dangerous to various Raptors that hunt ground squirrels in the area. ( U.S. )]] The Tehachapi Pass and San Gorgonio Pass sites have not had the same problems as Altamont Pass has had. The winds at these sites are more consistent. Also, endangered bird kills have not been an issue. Even though California has the largest wind farms in the U.S., it does not have very many commercially viable wind farm sites, at least not onshore. Much of the Southwest is not much better, although there are some significant exceptions. However, the Midwest has an abundance of suitable sites for wind energy development and yet the region's potential has gone largely untapped. As Of 2005 , several sites have been constructed or are in development in the Midwest. The Pacific Northwest and the Northeast both have many excellent sites as well. In contrast, the Southeast has a very poor wind energy resource, though the Appalachian Mountains do provide a few good areas. In Massachusetts , two proposed wind farms have been treated very differently by residents. The Cape Wind project, a proposal to construct 130 offshore wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound , is the subject of heavy debate in the affluent communities of Cape Cod , Martha's Vineyard , and Nantucket as well as among environmentalists. In contrast, the Hoosac Wind project, which will build 20 turbines on two ridgelines in the rural towns of Florida and Monroe , was initially the subject of little official controversy. It has been delayed by a suit to protect wetlands. Several other projects have been proposed for the area. Another 40-turbine offshore wind power installation has been proposed for the ocean off Jones Beach, Long Island, New York. It has the backing of many local and national environmental groups as well as the Long Island Power Authority and the Governor of New York. In New Jersey , the country's first coastal wind farm became operational in December 2005. The Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm in Atlantic City consists of five 1.5 MW turbines. The American Wind Energy Association provides information about existing and proposed projects in the U.S. WIND FARMS IN EUROPE .]] The development of wind farms in Europe enjoys greater public acceptance and creates a larger share of energy, though the goal of reducing the emissions from the use of other sources remains elusive and opposition to their spread grows steadily. Germany has the biggest wind turbine to be established offshore, and the largest number of wind farms in the world. , Spain .]] Governmental policy is generally in favour of increasing the use of Renewable Energy sources, however — the United Kingdom government, for example, has a target for 10% of domestic energy consumption to be generated from renewable sources by the year 2010 and is planning on- and off-shore wind farms at the moment, including having recently opened an onshore farm at Cefn Croes in West Wales 's Cambrian Mountains . {Link without Title} In April 2006, operational wind farms in the UK comprised an installed capacity of 1598 MW, in France 918 MW and in the Republic of Ireland 496 MW. Different countries have different yields, because of prevailing wind patterns, siting of the turbines, and the fact that early turbine designs were considerably less efficient and capable of adapting quickly to changes in wind direction and speed. For example, an Oxford University study of the wind over the past 35 years, UK turbines would have produced 27% of their maximum possible energy, compared with 20% in Denmark and 15% in Germany. {Link without Title} WIND FARMS IN JAPAN There is no particular controversy about the sightliness or otherwise of the Wakamatsu Ward windfarm in Kitakyushu , as there is in some other countries. It is far from the scenic areas of Wakamatsu, and on windy reclaimed land. Asahi Shimbun reported on May 18 , 2005 that many utilities have put limits on the amount of wind power they will allow, because of lack of confidence in their ability to deal with the variable output. It should be noted that several European countries are successfully accommodating significantly higher shares of wind energy in to their networks and that the Japanese grid is capable of coping with large conventional power stations disconnecting unexpectedly due to faults; on the other hand, it is true that integrating windpower or unreliable conventional power stations in to island grids is more difficult than into continent-wide inter-connected grids. WIND FARMS IN CANADA The total capacity of all wind farms in Canada is approximately 943 MW as of April 2006 {Link without Title} . Each province contains the following capacity: # Alberta , 284.47 MW, # Quebec , 212 MW, # Saskatchewan , 171.1 MW, # Manitoba , 103.95 MW, # Ontario , 121.71 MW, #Atlantic Canada, 49.23 MW and # Yukon , 1MW. The five largest wind farms in Canada are: # Centennial (near Swift Current, Saskatchewan ), 149.4 MW # McBride Lake (near Fort Macleod, Alberta ), 75 MW # Summerview (near Pincher Creek, Alberta ), 68 MW # Melanchton 1 - Shelburne (Ontario), 67.5 MW # Le Nordais Phase 1 (near Cap Chat, Quebec ), 57 MW Government support for wind power continues to increase. The current Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI) {Link without Title} is expected to quadruple its goal of 1,000 MW of wind power to 4,000 MW.
CONTROVERSY The electricity generated by wind farms is much more expensive than conventional forms of energy production. For example in Denmark electricity prices are 13p a unit, compared with 7-8p in Britain (one reason for the Danish Government in 2002 to halt its program of building wind farms). Modern winds turbines tend to operate at around 25% of their total capacity, meaning wind farms often need to be backed up by more reliable and responsive power sources, such as coal or oil fueled stations, which run in standby mode ready to switch on when wind levels become too strong or too weak. As such, energy consumers have to pay for the cost of the back-up generators as well as the cost of installing and maintaining the wind turbines. On top of this if the standby generators are running on fossil fuels the CO2 savings made by wind farms are substantially, if not completely, diminished. It is for these reasons that wind farms can only operate through government subsidies or grants. A study by the University Of St Andrews found that support for wind farms was higher among those living near existing sites, than among those living near proposed sites. The study also found that, in the case of the Dun Law Wind Farm in the Scottish Borders , that support for the farm was lowest among residents living 10-20 Km away, with support being higher closer to the farm. Wind farms have been opposed by those who feel that they spoil the landscape. Others, whether interested in Renewable Energy or not, have argued that the windmills are elegant and beautiful. The issue has split "nature lovers," who argue in turn that support or that opposition to wind farms is not doing The Environment any favours. Other critiques include noise and vibration produced by the blades, gears, and motors, the flashing lights required on the tall towers, and the shadows cast by the rotating blades of industrial-scale wind turbines. For example houses in California situated near a large wind farm have seen prices drop by half. These issues are obviously more of a factor when dwellings are nearby, but they may have effects on wildlife as well. Some question whether the windmills are a significant danger to passing birds. In the UK, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (. However a large Californian wind farm has been shown to kill 300 redtail hawks and 60 golden eagles a year. The argument remains, however, whether wind power can help mitigate Climate Change , that is, whether in fact it does more harm than good. A study of a Danish offshore wind farm used Radar to track flocks of geese and eider ducks around the Nysted wind farm in the Baltic sea. It found that the birds flew almost exclusively down the corridors between the 72 turbines, with less than one per cent flying close enough to risk collision. Many also avoided the wind farm altogether. The study was by Mark Desholm and Johnny Kahlert of the National Environmental Research Institute in Rønde, Denmark ( New Scientist , vol 186, no 2504: 18 June 2005). The study did not, however use data during twilight hours or anything more than mild winds. And the researchers warn about the possible cumulative effect of increasing numbers of wind facilities. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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