ENERCON E126 - The World's Largest Wind Turbine

[Fledermaus]

ENERCON E126 - The World's Largest Wind Turbine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQxp6QTjgJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_668127&v=ypvw59fcbCs

[Codeine]

1. Here's the wiki bit so you don't have to watch the video.

I don't have the patience for that sort of thing.

[girl gone mad]

2. I love seeing all the wind fams when driving through W. Texas..

They go on and on forever, and I think it creates a really interesting landscape.

[OnlinePoker]

3. I'm on the opposite side of the fence

I know we need the power, but the destruction of the vistas in wild places is depressing. I used to wander the range to get away from humanity...to try and connect with nature for a couple of days alone. Right in the middle of my favorite area, they plopped a wind farm. It's a constant reminder that there is no place to be seek solitude anymore.

[diane in sf]

7. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your solitude, but it could have been a coal mine

coal burning power plant, oil rig, natural gas fracking, or nuke plant. At least with the wind machines the animals and plants will survive and the water table won't be lowered and polluted.

[Kolesar]

4. 7+ Megawatts, the tower is 453 feet high!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/enercon_e126_largest_wind_turbine.php#

[azul]

5. What's in that big egg at the top? nt

[leveymg]

6. A 7 MW generator and gearbox. Diagram:

[madokie]

9. Thanks

I was hoping it was going to be one of the newer direct drive turbines and from the picture its hard to tell but it seemed to be large in diameter in relation to the length like it maybe was going to be a direct drive one. No luck on that though

[Kennah]

8. Someone is bound to start bitching this will kill Pterosaurs

[madokie]

10. I actually like the sound those makes

At the speed those rotors turn you'd have to be pretty close by to have to worry if one was to throw a shoe, ie blade, be sorta like when bush the lesser dodged the reporters shoe in Iraq, going slow enough to be able to dodge it.

I'd like to read some more on the ones where they locate the generator at ground level. rather than up in the air.
I don't understand why someone doesn't try to make a turbine with the generator at ground level being coupled to the rotor by oil, hydraulic. By sizing the pump and motor the right size one could do without the gearbox for stepping up the rotation speed for the generator. They could use a gerotor type pump at the blades and a gearmotor type hydraulic motor at the generator and then with a little tweaking have the gear ratio neaded. There would be no reason they couldn't use very large hoses to help negate any losses from the hoses too.
Looks to me like anyway

[txlibdem]

11. Biggest wind turbine just got demoted

"Norway is currently working on building the world’s largest wind turbine, a towering 10 MW machine that will blow away the competition. The Norwegian company Sway will build the 533-feet high monster, capable of powering 2,000 homes all by itself. Enova, a public agency owned by Norway’s petroleum and oil industry ministry, is helping fund the project, which is expected to cost $67.5 million to build.

...snip...

"Enova and Sway aim to install the behemoth in 2011 and test the turbine for 2 years on land in Oeygarden, southwestern Norway. After the testing and tweaking phase, they plan to install more of these machines offshore in Norway as part of an offshore wind farm. The turbine will be 533 feet high with a rotor diameter of 475 feet.

"Currently, the largest wind turbine in the world is the Enercon E-126, rated at 6 MW, but capable of 7, with a rotor diameter of 413 feet. The new 10 MW turbine is not much larger than the current record holder, but due to advancements in technology and design it will be able to achieve a much higher power output. These advancements are due to reducing the weight as well as the number of moving parts."
-- http://inhabitat.com/norway-to-build-the-worlds-largest-wind-turbine/