Albany wind and Grasmere farms are two

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

stations near Albany,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, owned by Bright Energy Investments. They are adjacent and are often considered a single facility. They have 18

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s, with a maximum generating capacity of 35.4 MW of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

. The original Albany Wind Farm was commissioned in October 2001, after ten years of planning. The wind farm has the capacity to produce 80 per cent of the electricity requirements of Albany. Originally commissioned in 2001 the farm was the largest of its kind in Australia. The farm originally had 12 wind turbines, with 6 extra turbines installed in 2011 as the Grasmere Wind Farm. The original Albany Wind Farm turbines are

ENERCON Enercon GmbH is a wind turbine manufacturer based in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-1990s. Enercon has production facilities in Germany (Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg), Brazil, India, Canada, ...

model E66, each with three long blades made from

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

(making them very flexible in order to withstand any conditions) and are fitted to towers. The nose cone which the blades attach to weighs around 14 tonnes. At the time of construction these turbines were the largest installed in the southern hemisphere. The turbines operate automatically, with the three blades adjusted to make best use of power output from any wind direction or strength. They have been designed to withstand the strongest winds likely in Albany and incorporate special lightning protection. Each turbine has a rating of 1.8 MW and is able to produce electrical energy at wind speeds of at which the turbines are shut down. Maximum output is achieved at a wind speed of . The 6 new turbines installed in 2011 are ENERCON model E70 with a rating of 2.3 MW. The turbines were made in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The Albany and Grasmere wind farms are situated on the coast about south-west of the city. They are in an elevated position at approximately above the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

. The height and locality is designed to maximise exploitation of local wind conditions, and combined with the short distance to the main

transmission system make this an outstanding wind farm site. The farms also acts as a tourist attraction in Albany. When built 200,000 was spent on board walks, viewing towers, interpretive displays and picnic areas on and around the site. The road to the site underwent a 400,000 upgrade for better access for visitors. The

Bibbulmun Track The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walk trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany, and is long. It is managed by government agencies, and has a foundation. It traverses the Darling Range and has i ...

also traverses the site and had to be re-aligned toward the cliffs and stabilized.

External links

Albany Wind Farm
page by

Verve Energy Verve Energy was a Western Australian Government owned corporation responsible for operating the state's electricity generators on the state's South West Interconnected System (SWIS). It was split from the then vertically integrated Western Powe ...

References

{{Energy in Western Australia Wind farms in Western Australia Buildings and structures in Albany, Western Australia Tourist attractions in Western Australia

See also

External links

References