OPG 7 commemorative turbine
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The OPG 7 Gomberg Turbine is a large windmill located in Pickering, Ontario. It is one of the largest windmills in North America, a 1.8 megawatt, 117-metre high wind machine commissioned in 2001 and designed to produce enough power to satisfy about 600 average households a year. This electricity is also emission-free.
"The Pickering Wind Generating Station (GS) produced an average of about 2900 megawatt/hours (MW/h) of electricity a year from 2001 to 2005. It generated about 18% of the electricity it would have if it had operated 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. This 18% “capacity factor” is low compared to other forms of generation and results mainly from the lack of constant strong winds at the Pickering site, as well as the high maintenance required for a prototype unit. Other areas in Ontario have been found to have much stronger “wind regimes.” (See: http://www.ontariowindatlas.ca )
The Pickering Wind GS typically produces enough electricity to supply the annual electricity needs of about 330 average homes. At full power, it can supply about 1,800 homes at any given time. In comparison, any one of the six operating reactors at Pickering Nuclear can supply enough electricity for over 500,000 homes.
About 50 truckloads of concrete totalling some 318 tonnes were used to form the steel- shipped in components by sea from the Vestas manufacturing plant in Denmark. A barge Oshawa, and the components were trucked from there to the site. The power generated is fed via underground cables into the electrical grid system."
The amount of electricity produced by the wind turbine depends on the strength and quality of the winds at any given time. The wind speed at which this turbine begins to generate electricity is about 16.9 km/h (10.5 mph). When in operation, the blades turn at a constant speed of 15.7 revolutions per minute. If the wind speed is more than 90 km/h (56 mph), on-board computers stop the turbine to avoid damage to it.
Technicians can access the generator atop the tower by climbing a ladder inside the hollow tower. Because of this difficult access, public tours of the wind turbine are not permitted. However, the turbine features prominently in the corporation's public relations campaigns.
The wind turbine’s operation is monitored at OPG’s Evergreen Energy control room in North Bay 24 hours per day, 7 days a week." (Source: PICKERING WINDGENERATING STATION; Ontario Power Generation, April 2006)
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