FPL Group builds world's largest wind farm in TX (735 MW)

[jpak]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-09-07T174436Z_01_N07258301_RTRIDST_0_UTIILITIES-FPL-TEXAS.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna

HOUSTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - FPL Group's (FPL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) wholesale energy unit has expanded the wind generating capacity at its Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas to 662 megawatts, making it the world's largest wind farm, according to the company.

When a final construction phase is completed at the end of the month, Horse Hollow will have 735 MW of capacity, enough to supply about 200,000 Texas homes, FPL Energy said in a statement.

The facility uses 291 GE 1.5-MW wind turbines and 130 Siemens 2.3-MW wind turbines spread over nearly 47,000 acres in Taylor and Nolan counties, near Abilene, 180 miles west of Dallas. The first phase of the project, consisting of 213 megawatts, was completed in 2005.

With the expansion, the Horse Hollow project is roughly 40 miles from one end to the other, said FPL spokesman Steve Stengel.

<more>

[whistle]

1. I don't understand the megawatt capacity capability referred to

....in the article. Is that 662 megawatts per hour, per day, per month, per year? I know it must have something to do with peak load, but over what period of time. For example, I have a 2,250 sq ft home in Florida and during the hottest months of July and August my electrical consumption using conservative settings <79F> on my AC came to about 1,400 KWH each month. Over the course of an entire year I use about 11,000 KWH which would be 11 megawatt hours I assume. So how many homes like mine could be served with the wind generated grid described?

[jpak]

2. 662 MW is the combined nameplate capacity of the project.

At their rated wind speed (~25 mph), it would generate 662 MW of power.

How many MWh of electricity it will actually produce will have to be measured and reported.

Assuming an capacity factor of 30% - probably ~160,000 homes like yours.

[mccoyn]

3. Watts are a rate.

1 Watt = 1 Joule/Second

So when something generates 662 MW, that means 662 MJ/s. We would be better off if they never invented the term and just stuck with J/s, after all we don't have a special term for rate of movement, m/s.

It gets even more confusing when talking about power usage. Ideally we would use the simpilist SI unit with the appropiate prefix. This would be KJ, MJ or whatever. That makes for complicated calculations. If I run a 0.5 KW device for 4 hours it'll use 0.5 * (4 * 60 * 60) KJ. To make things simplier power companies use KWH, which would be the same as KJH/s. The two time terms can cancel and leave just a ratio difference between the two, that is 1 KWH = 3600 KJ.

[whistle]

5. Let see, last month my electric consunption was 1,458 KWH or

...1,458,000 watt hours which is 405 Joules/second if my arithmatic is correct. That would require at say 10% capacity a wind generator capable of generating 4,050 watts at peak. Does that sound right?

Seems small to me. I was told that a portable generator of 6,000 watts in an emergency could take care of basic requirements like keeping the lights on, running a TV, maintaining my refridgerator and a fan or two, but no AC. For that I would need a unit 2.0 to 2.5 times bigger. So much to know and so much confusion in terms as well as information.

[skids]

6. Rule of thumb...

...is if you are in a good wind area, divide the peak wattage of a wind turbine by 3 and that's about what you'll get on average. You of course need battery storage to go with.

(If you aren't in a good wind area, don't even bother with wind.)

These systems are still very complicated to construct, though some products are starting to appear that make things easier like the new integrated household-sized battery bank/charge controller/inverter/grid-tie Xantrex just introduced. Still you are best off consulting professionals at this point.

[bananas]

7. air conditioners draw lots of power when the compressor starts up

the generator has to be able to provide that surge of energy.
Your 405 J/s energy use is average over a month, but if you power your house from a generator, it has to have enough capacity for starting up the a/c compressor while keeping the lights, fridge, and tv on. Sometimes the a/c and fridge compressors will turn on at the same time.

Here's an example of someone who bought an undersized generator that couldn't handle his a/c and was unable to get a refund:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3707/is_200503/ai_n11826760

<snip>

I know start-up amperage varies greatly from one air conditioner to the next. New units require fewer amps to start than even a 2- or 3-year-old system. I understand elevation can also be a factor.

However, I'm asking that Yamaha take back its unit and refund me the purchase price of $1,275.1 base this on the fact that I was misled by the company's advertising.

<snip>

We have contacted Mr. Tame directly regarding this situation. It has been subsequently determined that his air conditioner necessitated a large amount of start-up power, which the generator was not designed to handle. Furthermore, other air conditioners which did not require as much start-up power were connected to his generator, and were operated with no problems.

<snip>

Owen explained further that the EF2800Î generator has a rated AC output of 2,500 watts, and a maximum rated output of 2,800 watts. It can also generate three times the rated amount of power (7,500 watts) for start-up purposes such as on air conditioners, for three seconds only. If an air conditioner requires more than this, a larger generator will be needed.

<snip>

[mccoyn]

8. Math

1,458,000 watt hours is equivalent to the power produced by a 1,458,000 watt generator operating for 1 hour. So, a 4,050 watt wind generator would have to operate at peak output for 360 hours to produce the amount of power you used month. Since there are 720 hours in a month, the wind generator would have to average half capacity.

At 1,458,000 watt hours consumed over 720 hours you consumed an average of 2025 watts (remember watts are a rate). So, a 6,000 watt generator would be sufficent if you never have a peak power usage that is 3x greater than your average.

[JohnWxy]

4. Once Horse Hollow is finished FPL Energy will operate more than 1,600 MW

in Texas.

"Once Horse Hollow is finished, of wind generation in Texas and 4,002 MW in 15 states.

With FPL's additions, Texas surpassed California this year as the top wind producing state in the country, according to the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association. FPL operates two-thirds of the total 2,370 MW of wind generation in Texas."


While many debate and dither, others are quietly getting things done and making REAL progress.