TECH

Meet the largest wind farm in the world

It serves power to more than half a million homes and is located on the west coast of England. It's called Walney Extension, opened in early September, is made up of 87 wind turbines and has the capacity to generate 659 megawatts. The park is part of a trend that has been occurring in the energy sector, with billions of euros to be invested in renewable sources. The park is now the largest in the world, but with the current phase of transition, which is favoring green energy rather than fossils, this complex should not be able to boast of the status for much longer. At the moment, there is even a proposal on the table to build a park with the capacity to generate 30 gigawatts, on an artificial island, which can rise up to 2027, in the middle of the mQuando reaches the maximum capacity, the park, which occupies an area of ​​145 square kilometers, brings electricity to 590 thousand houses. The park was built by the Danish company, Orsted, which ended the project last June.

In all, it took more than 261 blades to make up the 87 turbines. Each blade weighs about 30 tons and, according to Orsted, when a blade completes one turn, the turbine generates enough energy to serve the energy needs of a family for a whole day. The turbines were made by Siemens and MHI Vestas, and are 18 meters high. This separates the Netherlands and Norway.
According to the Business Insider, energy is transported from the wind farm to the British national grid through a complex cable network stretching over 300 kilometers.
All these figures contribute to the size of the Walney Extension, which beats the second largest wind farm in the world for 14 square kilometers. The London Array, which is second on the list, is located on the south-east coast of the United Kingdom and has a capacity of 29 megawatts lower than this new complex.
Wind energy production is more expensive when made offshore, but as prices of energy produced from renewable sources continue to decline, more people are expected to benefit from installing larger and smaller parks than this. By 2050, renewable sources are expected to account for at least 50% of all energy consumed in the world.


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