Giant wind turbines are coming and they are going to give the Eifel Tower a run for its money. The company behind this project is Svevind AB, based in Sweden. The company is seeking permit to take their wind turbines higher in the sky to 300 meters. This is coming after the engineering firm built the biggest onshore wind park in the Nordic nation.
The tall wind turbines are going to be part of the already existing Markbygden park but will need separate permit. The process will probably take two years, giving us enough time to adjust to the idea of attaching rotating blades to quite an Eifel Tower.
Kristina Falk, head of environments and permits explains why Svewind is thinking so big “If you go higher up, you can have a bigger rotor and that means more energy from the turbines. At that height it’s a substantial increase of the wind energy compared with what we have permission for now.”
When completed, about 1,101 giant blade bearing towers in the Markbygden will be capable of generating 8% of Sweden’s electricity need. This will fill the growing demand as industries, transportation in particular, turn away from hydrocarbon based fuel to meet environmental sustainability targets.
Last year, Swedish wind farms generated a total of 27.9 terawatt-hours, an increase of 27.9% over the previous year. The nation will need all the turbines it can get to meet a 70% increase in energy demand as forecast for 2045 by Markus Rauramo, CEO of Fortum Oyj.
The current world record holding turbine on dry land is the 5.8-170 model made by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA. It stands ‘only’ 250 meters tall at its highest point.
Commenting on Swevind’s plans, Oliver Metcalfe, an onshore wind analyst at BloombergNEF said “A permit allowing for turbines up to 300 meters means Svevind could install the very latest and most powerful turbine models on the project.
“The tallest onshore turbines on the market today stand at around 250 meters. If granted, the new permit would give Svevind a buffer in case manufacturers release newer, larger models.”
Written by D.O. for www.ShargeMe.blog