High demand for fuel has brought our natural resources at the verge of extinction. The challenge for today is to generate energy from renewable sources without harming Mother Nature. Scientists and environmentalists have developed ways to harness immense power using wind turbines. A wind farm may consist of several hundred wind turbines producing substantial amount of green energy, and unused land between the turbines may be used for farming or other purposes.
Here below is the list of 5 largest wind farms in the world
1. The London Array
Two major wind farms are to be built in Thames Estuary and the government has sanctioned £1.5 billion for their construction. London Array, the worldâs biggest wind energy generation scheme is at the brink of completion and will be complete by the end of 2011. The wind farm is located at Essex and extends over a distance of 144sq miles between Margate in Kent and Clacton. It runs almost 341 turbines and once operational will be capable of powering 750,000 households. According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the London Array will include 5 offshore substations and 4 meteorological posts. The other project under the same scheme will cover an area of 21sq miles and will be located near North Foreland, Kent.
2. Markbygden wind farm
Swedish company Svevind is ready with the proposal to give Europe its largest wind farm. This wind farm has been named as âMarkbygden wind farmâ and will be installed over 500sq kilometers of unpopulated land in Sweden. The project will have almost 1,101 turbines which will generate clean and green energy for Sweden. The project is expected to be operational by 2020. This new project will not only benefit local paper, metal and forestry industry but will also provide employment to the people residing in neighboring villages.
3. South Dakota to get World’s largest Wind Farm
After the governmentâs plan to create worldâs largest wind farm at Kent, the Contact Energy has proposed a huge wind farm to be constructed at the south of Port Waikato this month. This proposal if implemented will give South Dakota the Worldâs largest wind farm. This wind farm will be capable of generating 6,000 megawatts of electricity using its 2,400 turbines. Its design has been proposed by Clipper Windpower Company of California and it is expected to cost around $6 billion.
4. Silverton to have the largest wind farm in Australia
German company, Conergy AG has come up with the proposal of creating a renewable energy generating source at Silverton village, in Australia. The project is expected to create expenditure of approximately $1.8 billion and will generate 1000 megawatt of renewable energy. It will have 500 turbines and once operational it will help in reducing Australiaâs carbon emission by almost 3 million tons a year. Favorable wind resources and powerful transmission system make New South Wales an excellent site for constructing wind farm.
5. Worldâs largest offshore wind farm
UK has plans to generate 20 percent of its power from wind turbines and is ready with the proposal to create worldâs largest offshore wind farm. The wind farm, to be constructed near Thanet in Kent, will have approximately 100 huge wind turbines and cost around $1.2 billion. Once operational, the plant will power about 240,000 urban homes of Kent.