Have you ever wondered why wind turbines are also sited in the sea? Join our inspirational speaker Alex from London Array who will explain why. He will provide an insight into his past experiences and then you'll learn about the general introduction of wind farms. We'll also dive deeper into the London Array wind farm and you'll discover more about its history, how it was built and why it is there.
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How many wind turbines are you aiming to build overall?
At London Array we have 175 turbines, however we are not planning to build any more on our site.
Elsewhere in the UK there are around another 500 turbines currently being built, with another 1000 turbines planned in the coming years!
Where do you get all the materials from to build the turbines?
We try to use as many local resources and materials as possible. For example there is a turbine blade factory in Hull, with plans for another one in Teeside in the coming years.
The rest of the turbines are built all around the globe, with many turbines being built in Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, China and Germany.
If a wind farm stops working does it cause a power cut?
No it doesn’t – the electricity goes into the national grid, who manage the electrical loads. If there is no wind, they just produce more electricity from another source (usually gas).
How long does it take to a fix a wind turbine?
It really depends on the type of issue, however most of the time it will take 3-4 hours. However sometimes it can take days if it is a bigger issue.
Do the workers climb inside or outside?
Both! There is work to be done on both the inside and outside of a turbine, pending on the turbine fault. However the vast majority of the work is completed inside the turbine.
What kind of maintenance do you have to do?
There is lots of maintenance to be done on the turbines. Just like a car – we need to complete oil exchanges, need to visually inspect all the turbine, need to check the turbine bolts are tight, we need to do electrical checks on the high and low voltage systems. The whole turbine from top to bottom is essentially inspected and replaced where necessary.
When too windy how do you turn the blades
We can remotely turn the turbines using our computer systems. Therefore on the rare occasions where its too windy, we can use the computer controls to move the turbine and their individual blades into the wind.
How much of the UK’s energy is produced my wind energy?
It depends on the amount of wind and the amount of electrical demand, however it can be anything up to around 40% of the UK’s electrical energy.
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