Windpark Ellern is a

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

facility located in Ellern in the

Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis is a district (german: Kreis) in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Lahn, Mainz-Bingen, Bad Kreuznach, Birkenfeld, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Co ...

in Rhineland-Pfalz,

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 ...

. Positioned along the crest of the

Soonwald The Soonwald is a forested, low mountain region, up to , which forms part of the Hunsrück mountains in the German Central Uplands. It lies within the counties of Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis and Bad Kreuznach in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geo ...

, the wind farm is one of the largest in southwestern Germany, and combined with a nearby wind farm in Kirchberg is among the country's major on-shore

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

areas. According to the energy company

juwi The Juwi GmbH is a company which builds renewable power supply facilities. Founded by Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher in 1996, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The today's headquarters is in Wörrstadt. The name "juwi" is an acronym based ...

, the eight

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 yea ...

facility is capable of generating up to 46.5 MW of energy, enough to power 33,000 residences and other buildings of other purposes, and cut down 84,700

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

emissions, equivalent to taking off the road 18,140 fossil-fed cars. Construction of the facility began in 2012, consisting of five 135 metre tall turbines manufactured by

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, ...

. Three other turbines were constructed shortly thereafter. While construction activity has provided jobs to the area, the facility has been controversial. Some local residents have formed protest organizations, arguing that the turbines have negatively affected the bucolic nature of the Soonwald and the Hunsrück.

External links

Windpark Ellern
''in German'' Economy of Rhineland-Palatinate {{wind-farm-stub