windmills of Muppandal .... and World's most powerful WEG at Østerild, Denmark

As you travel from Tirunelveli towards Kanyakumari, you pass through many villages…. Muppandal is one…. but is far different … there is the legend of Tamil poetess Avvaiyar associated with this place ~ that she called the Three Emperors (Moo Vendargal) – Chera, Chozha and Pandiyas ~ the Kings who had come for attending the marriage erected mantaps (pandals) in the village and hence they are now called Muppandal (meaning the 3 mantaps).  

The once impoverished village on hilly track is now famous as it harnesses wind energy in a big way.   In the area there are thousands of windmills of various hues and sizes – 250 KW; 750KW; 950KW and 1650KW to name a few.  

Miles away lived the Vikings, seafaring north Germanic people who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries. The Vikings employed wooden longships with wide, shallow-draft hulls, allowing navigation in rough seas or in shallow river waters.  Østerild is a small town in Thy with 653 inhabitants ~ wiki mentions that there is one grocery store, tavern, school, and a few other small businesses.  It is in Denmark,  officially the Kingdom of Denmark bordered by Sweden, Norway and Germany.  Denmark is associated with wind energy.

Wind energy is the kinetic energy that is present in moving air. The amount of potential energy depends mainly on wind speed, but is also affected slightly by the density of the air, which is determined by the air temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude. The Danish Government decided in February 2011 to build a new prototype wind turbine test center near Østerild in Jutland. Test Centre Østerild was established during 2012 and allows for erection of wind turbines of up to 210 and 250 meters.   

Vestas is a renowned  global energy company dedicated exclusively to wind energy - improving business case certainty and reducing the cost of energy for our customers. Vestas is more than a century old and have developed great expertise in the wind energy technology. 

Vestas and Denmark are in news now as : Vestas’ first V164-8.0 MW prototype wind turbine has successfully produced its first kWh of electricity, making it the worlds’ most powerful turbine in operation.  “We have now completed the production, testing, and installation of the V164-8.0 MW as planned, thanks to the team’s intense effort during a time when Vestas has reduced its investments and lowered fixed costs. We now look forward to evaluating the turbine’s performance on site,” says Vestas’ Chief Technology Officer Anders Vedel.

The turbine, installed at the Danish National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines in Østerild, will be closely monitored in the coming months to further validate reliability and energy output. The turbine’s installation is a key milestone towards ensuring maximum business case certainty for customers investing in offshore wind. The V164-8.0 MW will be the flagship product for the offshore joint venture between Vestas and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The V164-8.0 MW turbine is the world’s most powerful, with one unit capable of supplying electricity for 7,500 average European households. With a 140-metre tower, the turbine at Østerild has a tip height of 220 meters. The swept area of more than 21,000 m2, equal to three football pitches, increases the amount of energy captured, while reducing operational and maintenance costs by enabling customers to run fewer, larger turbines, with fewer service visits. It is claimed that given the necessary pipeline of orders, serial production of the V164-8.0 MW turbine are likely to begin in 2015.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

28^th Jan 2014.

News courtesy : www.vestas.com

Windmill photos (other than watermarked Sampspeak)  “Courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems A/S”.