Siemens has released a series of images to show off its new B75 wind turbine rotor blades, and you really need to see them if you want to believe how big is big, at least when it comes to wind turbines. Each of the three blades, which measure a staggering 246 feet in length, is a single component made from epoxy resin and balsa reinforced with glass fiber. Compare that to an Airbus A380's wings, which measure approximately 253 feet from tip to tip. The blades are molded in a process that Siemens has named IntegralBlade. When the wind speed hits 19.4 knots, a turbine will slice through 200 tons of air per second. When operating at full speed, the tips of the blades will spin at around at 180 mph. So how much power can they generate? A three-bladed turbine, with a sweep of 61,000 square feet, is able to generate 6 megawatts of electricity. To put that into perspective, a typical modern nuclear power plant generates around 1,200 megawatts of electricity. In optimal conditions, it would take 200 such turbines to achieve the same power output as a large, modern nuclear plant. But given the recent disaster in Fukushima, Siemens looks to have the right product at exactly the right time.
Siemens Wind Turbine Is Almost Too Big to be Believed
Siemens has released a series of images to show off its new B75 wind turbine rotor blades, and you really need to see them if you want to believe how big is big, at least when it comes to wind turbines. Each of the three blades, which measure a staggering 246 feet in length, is a single component made from epoxy resin and balsa reinforced with glass fiber. Compare that to an Airbus A380's wings, which measure approximately 253 feet from tip to tip. The blades are molded in a process that Siemens has named IntegralBlade. When the wind speed hits 19.4 knots, a turbine will slice through 200 tons of air per second. When operating at full speed, the tips of the blades will spin at around at 180 mph. So how much power can they generate? A three-bladed turbine, with a sweep of 61,000 square feet, is able to generate 6 megawatts of electricity. To put that into perspective, a typical modern nuclear power plant generates around 1,200 megawatts of electricity. In optimal conditions, it would take 200 such turbines to achieve the same power output as a large, modern nuclear plant. But given the recent disaster in Fukushima, Siemens looks to have the right product at exactly the right time.
