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Acciona unveils 3MW turbine
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 01, 2008
Acciona Energy broke ground Sept. 24 in Elk City, Okla., on the $250 million Red Hills Wind Farm, a 123-megawatt facility in which 34 of its 82 wind turbines will be produced here in West Branch.
When complete, the wind farm will be able to produce enough energy to power 40,000 homes, according to Acciona.
The farm will feature Acciona’s 1.5 MW turbines; those not made in West Branch will be produced by Acciona’s plant in Navarra, Spain.
The West Branch facility will also begin manufacturing in 2009 the AW-3000, a 3 MW turbine that “offers superior power performance in a variety of wind resource conditions,” according to spokesperson Eric Schneider.
The new turbine is designed for three different wind classes and was unveiled over the summer at the AWEA’s Windpower 2008 Conference and Exhibition in Houston, Texas.
Developed over 14 years and using many of the same technologies as its smaller counterpart — the AW-1500 — the AW-3000 will have three different rotor diameters, from 100 to 116 meters, with a total “swept surface area” of up to 10,568 meters square (about the square footage of two football fields).
The West Branch plant will produce both the AW-1500 and the AW-3000 models, for an annual production capacity of 850 MW a year. Currently, the company can put out about 675 MW a year.
Schneider said the company will not be able to make more specific demand projections until the AW-3000 hits the market in 2009.
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