www.energydigital.com | Feb 2011
Turning the traditional wind farm into
art
Top Gold Mining CEO’s The Future of Offshore Infrastructure
Visit us online at www.energydigital.com
Renewable Energy
A Twist on the Traditional Wind Farm Turning the traditional wind farm into art, these sites cover international landscapes with an architectural & aesthetic twist By Meaghan Clark
February 2011
Renewable Energy
Wind Farms
Masdar/WINDSTALK
Windstalk could be a great place to relax and enjoy the breeze Visit us online at www.energydigital.com
Finding art in the re all over the world ha version of the wind DNA, a team who cr pleasing developmen Initiative, and Abu D The project earne functional clean ene we entered a design which was to create sustainable way,� sai More than 1200 c lengthy reeds stand 33-66 feet in diame ceramic discs, wher lengthwise of the p the wind, generatin easing the concerns wreaking havoc on
s with a Twist
page 49
LK:
enewable is a relatively new concept, but designers have jumped at the chance to create their own unique farm. One such design is from New York based Atelier reated the concept behind “Windstalk,” an aesthetically nt designed specifically for the Land Art Generator Dhabi’s Masdar City. ed second place at the inaugural event that proposed ergy producers could also be pieces of art. “For this project competition for a specific site for a specific program, a public art that also generated electricity in some id the project’s founding architect Darío Núñez-Ameni. carbon fiber reinforced resin poles – reminiscent of ding 180 feet high – are anchored to cement platforms eter. These lifelike reeds consist of piezoelectric re electrodes are connected by cables that run pole. The LED lamps flicker in the night and sway in ng enough energy to power a neighborhood, while s of neighbors who claim typical wind farms are the city ambiance. February 2011
Renewable Energy
Wind Farms
Ross Island
Chilly enough for you?
Think your w one in Antarc and the Unite these location wind farm. T Energy, Anta Enercon turb areas in the w meet the ext needed and e still working In such ex work during the sun is ou area, the trou hour winds, project was c operate throu 11 percent an
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNBBsPQlXIU&feature=player_embedded
Visit us online at www.energydigital.com
s with a Twist
page 51
d Wind Farm
wind farm is the coolest of them all? Trying building ctica. That’s exactly what New Zealand’s Scott Base ed States McMurdo Station did two years ago when on bases began the concept design behind Ross Island’s Two years later with the help of New Zealand’s Meridian arctica New Zealand and National Science Foundation, bines were installed on Crater Hill, one of the coldest world. Enercon turbines were installed specifically to reme climate conditions of the site where little repair is even during under 40 degrees winds, the turbines are g their hardest. xtreme conditions, the construction team was forced to the summer – a minimum of just four months – when ut 24 hours a day. In such an environmentally sensitive uble wasn’t just accessing the site to build in 69 mile per but to do it in temperatures of -35F to 45F. In 2010, the completed and today Scott Base and McMurdo Station ugh a transmission grid, reducing the diesel fuel level by nd CO2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1200t. February 2011
Renewable Energy
Wind Farms
Scotland’s “Wind” Turbines
Europe and the United States have done offshore energy, but Hammerfest Strøm was the first to create a wind farm 100 meters under the sea. As the first “wind” farm under the sea, it’s a push to say that these turbines are generating electricity from the same environment as those above ground, but through the 300kw prototype
Wind power...by ocean floor Visit us online at www.energydigital.com
s with a Twist
page 53
it’s energizing similar electrical forces. Installed in 2003, these farms use both potential energy (from the head of water) and kinetic energy. Tranquil days don’t matter underwater either, where tidal power provides a constant energy source. After four years of testing, Hammerfest Strøm expects a wind farm of 20 tidal turbines to be installed before the end of the year in Scotland’s Pentland Firth and the Sound of Islay, and Ireland’s North Antrim. The company constructed the original tidal turbine prototype, the HS300, in 2003 and tested it for four years. After its success of connecting to the power grid through the conversion of kinetic energy to electricity, Hammerfest Strøm welcomed the HS1000. The second device handles just as much energy and is set to be fully installed in sites by the end of the year. February 2011
Renewable Energy
Wind Farms
Thanet Offshore Wind Farm
In September 2010, the world’s largest offshore wind farm was completed just 12 km off Foreness Point near Kent. The project, which includes 100 Vestas V90 wind turbines, was developed by renowned Swedish wind operator Vattenfall, who have helped supply Europe with some of the largest wind farms in the country. Thanet has been attracting the attention of environmentalists since 2008 when Vattendfall first acquired the land, as it’ll generate enough to power 200,000 homes a year – enough to ease the Government’s mindset Visit us online at www.energydigital.com
s with a Twist
page 55
It’s a site for sore eyes - great offshore infrastructure at its best
about meeting their renewable energy target. It might not seem like such an audacious project while standing at the harbor in Kent, but swim just seven miles offshore and the 100 turbines will overtake the ocean landscape. In full capacity these massive offshore wind turbines can power half of Kent, a number that impresses whether or not residents’ energy bills have gone up in price. While not innovative in terms of aesthetics, Thanet is just one of many wind farms in development over the next decade. February 2011