Wind farm

Because they require no fuel, wind farms have less impact on the environment than many other forms of power generation and are often referred to as a good source of green energy.

[7] The balancing factor is that strong gusts and high turbulence require stronger more expensive turbines, otherwise there is a risk of damage.

Significant equipment upgrades have substantial costs, potentially undermining the viability of a project within a location, regardless of wind resource availability.

[16] Larger corporations who can afford to bid the most queues will most likely have market power as to which sites with the most resource and opportunity are eventually developed.

A major factor in wind-farm design is the spacing between the turbines, both laterally and axially (with respect to the prevailing winds).

[19][20] [24] Onshore turbine installations in hilly or mountainous regions tend to be on ridges generally three kilometres or more inland from the nearest shoreline.

As of 2010, there were 39 offshore wind farms in waters off Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with a combined operating capacity of 2,396 MW.

The province of Ontario, Canada is pursuing several proposed locations in the Great Lakes, including the suspended[40] Trillium Power Wind 1 approximately 20 km from shore and over 400 MW in size.

[citation needed] Therefore, special fast service vehicles for installation (like Wind Turbine Shuttle) as well as for maintenance (including heave compensation and heave compensated working platforms to allow the service staff to enter the wind turbine also at difficult weather conditions) are required.

[80] Researchers from Harvard and Tsinghua University have found that China could meet all of their electricity demands from wind power by 2030.

To address this issue it has been proposed to create a "supergrid" to connect national grids together[92] across western Europe, ranging from Denmark across the southern North Sea to England and the Celtic Sea to Ireland, and further south to France and Spain especially in Higueruela which was for some time the biggest wind farm in the world.

As of 2018, government targets for wind power deployment were relatively low when compared to other countries, at 1.7% of electricity production by 2030.

The wind farm is being developed in Jhimpir, by Zorlu Energy Pakistan the local subsidiary of a Turkish company.

Located in the northern part of the country's biggest island, Luzon, alongside the seashore of Bangui, Ilocos Norte.

Sri Lanka has received funding from the Asian Development Bank amounting to $300 million to invest in renewable energies.

[106][107][108] Eskom has constructed one small scale prototype windfarm at Klipheuwel in the Western Cape and another demonstrator site is near Darling with phase 1 completed.

[109] The majority of wind farms in the United States are located in the Central Plains, with slow expansion into other regions of the country.

[128] Some wind farms are opposed for potentially spoiling protected scenic areas, archaeological landscapes and heritage sites.

[129][130][131] A report by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland concluded that wind farms harmed tourism in areas known for natural landscapes and panoramic views.

[153][154] Australian science magazine Cosmos states that although the symptoms are real for those who suffer from the condition, doctors need to first eliminate known causes (such as pre-existing cancers or thyroid disease) before reaching definitive conclusions with the caveat that new technologies often bring new, previously unknown health risks.

[157] However wind farms are more resistant to military attack than thermal power plants as many missiles are needed to destroy them not just one.

[158] Wind farms can interfere with ground radar systems used for military, weather and air traffic control.

The large, rapidly moving blades of the turbines can return signals to the radar that can be mistaken as an aircraft or weather pattern.

[159] Actual aircraft and weather patterns around wind farms can be accurately detected, as there is no fundamental physical constraint preventing that, but aging radar infrastructure is significantly challenged with the task.

[167] Permanent problem solving include a non-initiation window to hide the turbines while still tracking aircraft over the wind farm, and a similar method mitigates the false returns.

[168] England's Newcastle Airport is using a short-term mitigation; to "blank" the turbines on the radar map with a software patch.

[174] The United States Federal Aviation Administration advises aircraft without position-reporting technologies such as transponders to avoid flight within 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) at all altitudes from wind turbine farms.

[176][177][178] A 2010 study found that in the immediate vicinity of wind farms, the climate is cooler during the day and slightly warmer during the night than the surrounding areas due to the turbulence generated by the blades.

[179] In another study, an analysis carried out on corn and soybean crops in the central areas of the United States noted that the microclimate generated by wind turbines improves crops as it prevents the late spring and early autumn frosts, and also reduces the action of pathogenic fungi that grow on the leaves.

Even at the height of summer heat, the lowering of 2.5–3 degrees above the crops due to turbulence caused by the blades can make a difference for the cultivation of corn.