Darling Wind Farm opened in 2008.
This Wind Farm, located near the town of Darling, South Africa, is a national demonstration project. It’s the first commercial Wind Farm in South Africa. With just four turbines, it’s a little project with BIG potential!
picture source: elixirgraphics
Remember the pinwheel you had when you were a little kid? (Look under your bed. It’s probably still there.) Remember how you blew air at it, so the blades would turn? Well, imagine a pinwheel that’s as tall as a 17-story building! That gives you an idea of the size of a wind turbine. The turbine works the same way as your pinwheel. The wind blows past the angled blades, turning them around and around.
Each wind turbine is hooked up to wires. When the blades go around, they turn mechanical energy into electrical energy, creating electricity! The electricity travels through the wire to the wires owned by the electric company. It can then be sent to houses, or businesses, or anyplace electricity is needed. The electricity generated from these four turbines can provide enough electricity to meet the needs of 700 households.
Looking straight up from the base of the turbine. It’s tall!
Regular power plants usually burn coal to create electricity. That’s bad news for the environment, because burning coal creates air pollution. Air pollution has carbon dioxide and other poisonous chemicals in it that are harmful to animals and people. The more electricity people use, the more power plants pollute our air.
Wind Farms don’t burn coal. They just use the wind to power their blades, so the turbines don’t create any air pollution. That’s why we call them “Clean Energy” or “Alternative Energy”. Makes sense, doesn’t it?!
Dirk is standing at the base of the turbine.
Some people think turbines are very noisy. They do create a quiet hum, but the noise in my video below is the sound of the wind blowing through my camera’s microphone. It’s louder than the turbine! These turbines are located in a farmer’s field. You can see the turbines don’t scare the cows.
The turbines are built in a place where there’s usually lots of wind. But no matter the wind speed (as long as there’s a bit of wind), the blades turn at 32 revolutions per minute. There are 100 sensors on each turbine that keep taking measurements. The information about wind speed, wind direction, temperature, vibration, etc., are sent to computers so the turbine can be watched from anywhere in the world.
If it gets very windy, the turbine blades still turn at 32 revolutions per minute, even if the turbine has to put its brakes on. If the blades turned too quickly, they would generate too much electricity at once, and would damage the wires.
Technician, Dirk Mostert, and Ms. Christie-Blick inside a wind turbine.
People are concerned about air pollution and climate change. Wind Farms are a cleaner way to create energy than burning coal, oil, or wood. People are also using solar panels that use the sun’s energy, hydro-electric power that uses running water, and other ways to create electricity. It’s good to know that Dirk Mostert and the others working at Darling Wind Farm have found a way to meet people’s needs while also helping the environment, don’t you think?
Each blade is 32 meters long.
Ms. Christie-Blick and Dirk at the door of the turbine.
I learned that the blades turn at 32 revolutions per minute.
it is so cool how people could make structures that are so big and produce clean energy without producing carbon dioxide
its cool that the turbines dont make any noise! i thoght they would! I never knew that!
I never knew that you could go inside a wind turbine! That must be so interesting to go inside!
Wow that is crazy I never knew that the wind turbine is as tall as a 17 story building
and that each wing on the turbine is 32 meters long.
It is awesome that a wind turbine can power up 700 households
I think that it is cool that people are trying to think of ways to help our planet. I never knew that you can go inside a wind turbine.
Wow I never knew that there are There are 100 sensors on each turbine that keep taking measurements. That is so cool!
I think it is amazing to think that you got to go inside of a wind turbine and learn about it!!
I did not know that you could go inside a wind turbine.
Its amazing how much wind turbines can help so much. They generate electricity without even burning fossil fuels.!
I am amazed, because I had no idea that just with those four turbines, that you could power 700 different households.
It’s really cool to me people are finding other ways to make electricity it also helps slow down climate change.
Wow i completely underestamated turbines and making noise
Itś amazing how four turbines can generate the meets of 700 households. Itś also really cool how if there is just a little bit of wind the turbine can still turn 32 revolutions per minute.
It is so cool and shocking how each blade is 32 meters long! They are so long! Just like in class we turned the light bulb too fast and it didn’t work anymore and it broke it is cool that if windmills are turned too fast the wires will break from all the electricity.
I did not know that one wind turbine can provide electricity for 700 homes! I also did not know that wind turbines are about 17 stories high. Thats tall. It is also pretty cool how wind turbines are pretty silent. Animals can live around them.
I’m glad people are taking action.They are even thinking of ways to generate electricity without pollution.Also i’m glad people started taking action as soon as they found ways to help it people could have said its fine deal with it later but they are dealing with it now so its not that high..
wow! This is so cool! It is amazing that the wind turbines are 32 meters long!
I never knew that the wind blades on wind turbines and 32 meters long! It`s also very cool that wind turbines can power up to 700 houses.
I’m glad people are taking action.They are even thinking of ways to generate electricity without pollution.Also i’m glad people started taking action as soon as they found ways to help it people could have said its fine deal with it later but they are dealing with it now so its not that high
I think wind farms are a great source of energy without releasing any carbon dixiode . It would be amazing if everywhere in the world they used it which would be a major help, to globle
its so cool that just those 4 turbines can provide enough energy to meet the needs of 700 households
wow! I didn’t know that wind turbines helped the inviorment so much. In my oppion we should have more wind turbines in every state that way we could help save our planet.
it’s cool that four turbines can power 700 house holds! That is a lot for just four turbines you know.I would love to see a windmill real close.
Each blade is 32 meters? That’s long! So cool! Until now, I always thought wind turbines and such were boring. Glad to know people care!