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Could Your Home Be Powered by a Single Turbine Spin?

  • Publish Date: Posted over 5 years ago
  • Author: Steve Walia

A new record-breaking wind farm in Aberdeen will feature the largest wind turbines in the world, which are able to power a standard family home for a day with just a single spin of each blade.

The new turbine is one of eleven which will be used in the new European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, the biggest offshore wind farm in Scotland. The remaining ten turbines will be in place and working before autumn.

Built by Vattenfall, the Swedish state utility, the new development has also been partially funded by the European Union. The total build cost will be around £300 million, and the wind farm is expected to be able to generate over 70pc of the total domestic electricity demand for Aberdeen.

Just one rotation of each propeller will reportedly be able to generate enough clean energy to power a family home for one day.

Each of the 8.4MW wind turbines measures 191 metres in height, which is more than half of the height of London's epic Shard building, the tallest structure in Europe. The developers had to overcome a range of challenges to move ahead with their plans, including a legal challenge from US president Donald Trump, who objected to the build of the first turbine on the grounds that it would be visible from his Scottish golf course.

Until now, the average offshore wind turbine has been 5.9MW in capacity, but GE has moved ahead with a new enormous 12 MW turbine. Large turbines gather more wind energy because their blades are longer and the rotors have a bigger mega-wattage. As they are taller, they are also able to capture faster-moving winds.

As the wind industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see where technology next takes its turbines.