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This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is

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FredicvsMaximvs
04/23/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
One thing that puzzles me about big turbines like this is that I don't see any sort of vane to keep them pointed into the wind. Do the blades adjust on each trip around to help the thing swivel, or does the wind just always blow the same direction at that altitude?

Regardless, I want to live in one of those - kind of like the modern-day equivalent of a light house keeper.
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theorieofself
04/23/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
i wonder how much it cost to build and install that thing. only 6 megawatts?

man, a decent nuclear plant is rated at 1000 megawatts and higher.
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EBone
04/23/09

@theorieofself: That machine goes for around 4 million US dollars. Nuke plants cost in the billions.
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accordionhero
04/23/09

@EBone: you have to think about that in terms of cost per kw... wind is generally competitive (as of 2 yrs ago at least when i looked last) once you add in the production tax credit which is a govt subsidy for every MWh produced. that said wind is a joke, until they figure out how to efficiently store electricity. never blows when you need it, and people generally don't live where its windy enough... and the intermittency means you can't rely on it as firm grid capacity, its just a side resource that sometimes generates a bit. and you can't really compare a nuke to any other plant in terms of cost to build bc it takes a huge capital commitment and there are long lead times for permitting...

anyway wind won't ever replace a baseload generator (like nuclear or coal) without a natural gas fired plant nearby that can turn on when the wind stops blowing. just annoys me that so many people think wind is the answer. it'll be solar (prob thermal), if anything, once they get cost down.
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EBone
04/23/09

@accordionhero: Thanks, I never think of those points in my position as the VP of Development for a national wind energy company.

//Just being a smart ass.
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accordionhero
04/23/09

@EBone: ah fair enough, i shouldn't have assumed you weren't aware.. apologies for the condescension, the aforementioned annoyance took over i guess.

anyway for what it's worth, sounds like obama and the rest of the country seem pretty convinced on wind's viability... as a genuine question for curiosity's sake, has your company ever seriously explored pairing a wind farm with a pumped storage facility? i've kinda always wondered whether that was even possible, geographically or cost-wise.
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EBone
04/24/09

@accordionhero: No worries. We're actually exploring a number of different storage and pairing options right now. One of our Texas projects is about to be supplemented by a 25 MW solar PV facility. It works great since TX gets lots of sun during the day and the wind blows pretty steady in the evening. And a CA project is tied to the LADWP's Castaic Lake pumped hydro project for load balancing.

We're also exploring battery storage, compressed air storage, and spinning flywheels. Right now none of those technologies are perfected or cost effective, even with the PTCs in place currently. We expect these technologies to be more mainstream in the next five years or so.
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SaralaDog
04/23/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
It still boggles the mind that humans can design and build gigantic structures and machines such as this. What's even more unbelievable is that some of the largest structures were built before computers existed, such as the Hoover Dam.
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EBone
04/23/09

@SaralaDog: Ever see the PBS special on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge? It's amazing how it was done without even the aid of a slide rule!
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strider_mt2k
04/23/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
They don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows...
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illegalprelude
04/23/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
im curious. So how much power is 6 megawats? A lot? A little?
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EBone
04/23/09

@illegalprelude: Enough power for around 1,800 average-sized US homes.
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madog
04/22/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
I want to see the crane that's lifting that giant thing up (that's what SHE said!).

Seriously though, it's gotta be HUGE! (that's wha.....)

/me gets punched in the face
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OrlenaPlover
04/22/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
i work with a company that makes the bolting that goes into those wind towers... next month is a trade show in Chicago for the wind industry .... and they have the blades and hubs they go on ... and i can tell you they are as big as some homes
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EBone
04/23/09

@OrlenaPlover: I'll see you there!
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/22/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
So how many megawatts exactly does it take to travel in time?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
04/23/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: Uncle Rico's ran on 120v.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
04/22/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
Smithers, i've designed a new plane, I call it the Spruce Moose, it will carry 200 passengers from New York's Eidlywilde to the Belgian Congo in 17 minutes!!

It's a nice model.

Model?
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Kaiser-Machead
04/22/09

@When'sUranusDay?_GitEmSteveDave:

*pulls out gun*

I said, get in.
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spannu
04/22/09

In reply to This Thing Is Just Too Damn Huge to Be Real—But It Is
Can't wait til the wind speeds go higher than what they planned for and we get a video of it taking off with a piece of land attached to it.
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Kaiser-Machead
04/22/09

@spannu: Lol'd at the image.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
04/22/09

@spannu: Windmills do not work that way. Morbo will crush you!
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madog
04/22/09

@When'sUranusDay?_GitEmSteveDave: Ahhhhahahaha.

I miss Morbo....
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