The tallest wind turbine in the United States belongs to Texas, which is no surprise; as the saying goes: “Everything is bigger in Texas.” The giant test installation on the campus of the West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) is 653.5 feet high, which is more than twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty at 310 feet and almost 50 feet higher than the Seattle Space Needle. To put this into even more perspective, the standard giant wind turbines most commonly installed across those vast fields generally don’t even reach 500 feet high.
Texas is home to America’s tallest wind turbine
The super-giant wind turbine standing proud on its WTAMU plain has beaten the previous record-holder, which stands at 574 feet, as the biggest in the country by 79.5 feet. Apparently, although it looks somewhat spare standing all alone in the distance, it’s impact comes in the form of the great noise it generates.
Reports state that it took more than 100 truckloads of parts just to build the crane that was used to build the massive structure, which is a prototype test facility set up by Goldwind, a turbine manufacturer. The aim of the test is to prove their new prototype’s capabilities and gather learnings to apply to the upgrading of existing technology. The main focus is on boosting reliability, which is one of the shortcomings of this form of energy generation.
In other news about Texas, Tesla approached the Department of Transportation for $100 million towards setting up a big-rig electric charging network stretching from California to Texas and the answer wasn’t what the company wanted.
How did a Chinese company’s giant prototype end up in the U.S.?
The conception of Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology’s colossal test turbine began in Beijing. Known as Goldwind, the renewable energy company specializing in turbine manufacturing and wind farms, was founded in 1998 and holds its headquarters in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Goldwind has operations in numerous countries and has facilitated the installation of numerous onshore and offshore turbines.
Entering and enduring in the American market was a monumental task
The company’s efforts to expand its reach beyond Asia starting some years ago experienced challenges and delays in the beginning. Lauren La Marche, director of marketing and communications for Goldwind Americas, spoke about the roadblocks in achieving the company’s goals:
“In the early days, we were at a little bit of a disadvantage because we entered the market later than most other companies and we brought with us a newer technology that hadn’t been tested and proved out in North America. We also faced questions from our customers about the bankability of our product and whether Goldwind would be invested in this market for the long-term.”
Many Chinese turbine manufacturers fell by the wayside when they realized how difficult it was to break into the North American wind energy market. La Marche says that Goldwind is the last of the Chinese manufacturers remaining in the U.S.:
“Our strategy all along was to prove out our best-in-class technology through a combination of investing and owning our own wind turbine projects.“
Goldwind current operational turbine installations produce a total of 356 MW across 21 projects in nine U.S. states. Another 270 MW are generated in Panama.
The benefits of wind energy for electricity generation
As with all forms of renewable power, wind energy has numerous significant advantages. Here are some of them:
- Clean energy: No harmful emissions are generated by wind energy systems.
- Renewable energy: Moving air is not a resource that we can run out of or use too much of.
- Low cost: The cost of installing and operating wind farms is lower than that of most other kinds of renewable energy solutions.
- Reduction of fossil fuel use: Wind farms don’t operate on fossil fuels.
- Job creation: Employment opportunities are created in the installation, operation, and maintenance of wind farms.
- Benefits for local communities: There are economic benefits for the communities around wind farms.
In more news out of China to do with renewable energy, the nation is working on a project to cover a desert with 200,000 solar panels. The goal is to utilise enough sunlight to power the area and implement renewable energy resources as another way to save the environment from harm.