Wind farms are a group of wind turbines that transform wind energy into electrical energyThey can be terrestrial or marine.
8 of the 10 largest wind farms in the world are located in the United States, of which five are located in Texas. Also, between in the TOP 10 there is only one offshore wind farm, being all the others terrestrial. We are going to classify them according to their installed capacity:
1. Alta Wind Energy Center:
El Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC, Alta Wind Energy Center) located in Tehachapi, in California, United States, is currently the largest wind farm in the world, with an operating capacity of 1.020 MW. The onshore wind farm is operated by Terra-Gen Power engineers, who are currently immersed in a new expansion to increase the capacity of the wind farm to 1.550 MW.
2. Shepherds Flat Wind Farm:
It is located near Arlington, in eastern Oregon, in the United States, it is the second largest wind farm in the world with an installed capacity of 845 MW.
Developed by Caithness Energy engineers, the facility covers more than 77 km² between Gilliam and Morrow counties. The project, developed by the engineers of Caithness Energy in an area of more than 77 km² between Gilliam and Morrow counties, construction began in 2009 at an estimated cost of $ 2000 billion.
The park is made up of 338 GE2.5XL turbines, each with a nominal capacity of 2,5 MW.
3. Roscoe Wind Farms:
El Roscoe Wind Farm is near Abilene in Texas, United States, is currently the third largest wind farm in the world with an installed capacity of 781,5 MW, developed by E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) engineers. Its construction was carried out in four phases between 2007 and 2009, covering an area of 400 km² of farmland.
Specifically, the first phase included the construction of 209 Mitsubishi turbines of 1 MW, in the second phase 55 Siemens turbines of 2,3 MW were installed, while the third and fourth phases were integrated 166 GE turbines of 1,5 MW and 197 turbines Mitsubishi of 1 MW respectively. Total, 627 separate wind turbines were installed at a distance of 274 meters, which began operating together at full capacity since October 2009.
4. Horse Hollow Wind Power Center:
This park is located between Taylor and Nolan County in Texas, United States, it is currently the fourth largest wind farm in the world with an installed capacity of 735,5 MW.
The facilities were built in four phases during 2005 and 2006, with Blattner Energy engineers responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the project. Specifically in the first three phases of the project 142 wind turbines were installed 1,5 MW from GE, 130 2,3 MW from Siemens and 149 from 1,5 MW from GE respectively.
5. Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm:
It is located between Sterling and Coke counties in Texas, United States, it is currently the fifth largest wind farm in the world with an installed capacity of 662,5 MW, operated by NextEra Energy Resources engineers. Its construction was developed in two phases, the first being completed in 2007 and the second in 2008.
The wind farm has 342 GE 1,5 MW wind turbines and 65 Siemens 2,3 MW wind turbines, measuring more than 79 meters in height from the ground. As a result, the wind farm can meet the electrical needs of more than 220.000 homes.
6. London Array Offshore Wind Farms:
London Array, the largest marine park in the world with an installed capacity of 630 MW, ranks as the sixth largest wind farm in the world. Developed by engineers at Dong Energy, E.ON and Masdar, its facilities are located outside the Thames estuary more than 20 km from the coasts of Kent and Essex.
Despite being the largest offshore park in the world, its promoters plan to increase its power up to 870 MW in a second phase pending approval.
7. Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Farm:
El Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Farm located in the province of Dobruja in Romania, it is the seventh largest wind farm in the world with an installed capacity of 600 MW. The project, developed by CEZ Group engineers, spans 1.092 hectares in open country just 17 kilometers west of the Black Sea coast.
The first turbine of the wind farm was installed in June 2010, making the connection to the grid of the last turbine in November 2012, since then the largest onshore wind farm in Europe. The facilities are made up of 240 GE 2.5 XL wind turbines with an average rotor diameter of 99 meters and an individual nominal capacity of 2,5 MW, which together represent around one-tenth of the total green energy production in Romania.
8. Fowler Ridge Wind Farm:
Located in Benton County in Indiana, United States, it is the eighth largest wind farm in the world. The project, developed by engineers from BP Alternative Energy North America and Dominion Resources, was carried out in two phases, allowing a total installed capacity of 599,8 MW.
The construction of the wind farm, with an area of more than 20.000 hectares, began in 2008, finally starting operations in 2010. The facilities are made up of 182 Vestas V82-1.65MW wind turbines, 40 Clipper C-96 wind turbines of 2,5 MW and 133 GE 1,5 MW wind turbines. Together, the wind farm can meet the needs of power for more than 200.000 homes.
9. Sweetwater Wind Farm:
El Sweetwater Park, located in Nolan County, Texas, United States, is currently the ninth in the ranking of the world's wind farms with an installed capacity of 585,3 MW, which was developed jointly by Duke Energy and Infigen Energy engineers.
It was built in five phases. The first of them began commercial operations in 2003, while the remaining four phases began to serve in 2007. The facilities consist of total of 392 turbines, including 25 GE 1,5 MW wind turbines, 151 GE SLE 1,5 MW wind turbines, 135 Mitsubishi 1.000A 1 MW wind turbines and 81 Siemens 2,3 MW wind turbines.