[MD]

Between Indianapolis and Chicago there is a wind farm that goes on for miles. I estimate 1000 or more 250kw towers.

Flying over Upstate NY there are several wind fields spread through the southern tier hills. From Naples to Wellsville. I have seen another thousand or so

South on old US 15 just a few weeks ago I saw them on the mountaintops here and there, another 250 or so.

That's 2250 that I have seen in recent travels.

Most of them are in remote areas, which makes me wonder about infrastructure to move that power around.

Add to the list, please!

[MD]

If you poll a count please give location(s) and total count in a post. Only posts will count toward the total!


Thanks.

[AgentR11]

Hard to know how to vote really... I don't think I've seen any of the big turbines in their final spots, but, living near I45, I've seen an endless stream of the giant blades going up and down the freeway for years. Less recently of course, but still, it'd be a large number if totaled up.

[ROCKMAN]

I assumed the question wasn't meant to be restricted to what has been physically seen but more generally how many have been installed. Couldn't find it broken down by years but based upon the stat that much of the wind power capacity has been installed from 2008 on I guessed over 5,000. As of 2012 there were over 45,000 wind turbines operating in over 800 separate projects. Currently Texas has the most installed capacity that's about equal to the #2 and #3 states combined. Texas is also home to the first offshore wind farm test facility. Two projects are on the board to install over 1,000 Texas offshore turbines. Texas is the only state where a federal permit isn't required to install a wind turbine immediately off it's coast.

Lots of other interesting facts at

http://www.windenergyfoundation.org/int ... ergy-facts

[Surf]

the problem with this post is that I am almost always driving when I see a wind farm. It is not safe to count while on the freeway in heavy traffic. I frequently drive through the Altamont pass in california. This is the location of one the first wind farms in the US. Originally most of the turbines were 75Kw turbins made by US wind. These turbines are responsible for most bird deaths cause by wind turbines that you read about in the news. These turbines spin very fast at times and birds often land on the towers to watch for rodents. Due to this problem the old turbines which have reached there 25 year design life are being removed and new 750Kw units are being installed. the reworked wind farm will have a higher capacity rating than the old farm.

The new ones spin more slowly and have no landing places on the tower for birds. There is also more space between the towers and the placement takes into account the flying patterns of the birds to reduce bird strikes. I have no idea how many have been installed since I cannot see the entire farm from the freeway. Best guess at least 100 new turibines.

The old 25 year old turbines are being refurbished and reinstalled several miles east of there original location. Design life for wind turbines doesn't mean anything because with routine maintenance they can produce power for decades to come.

[PrestonSturges]

I wonder if it strikes people in Appalachia as odd to see the wind turbines going up while Rush Limbaugh screams that it's all a big hoax?

[MD]

I assumed the question wasn't meant to be restricted to what has been physically seen but more generally how many have been installed.

I'm more interested in hearing from personal experience and how wind farms have changed the landscape.

There are far easier ways to get actual totals!

[PrestonSturges]

On the east coast, people have seen the result of decades of strip mining and roads destroyed by trucks hauling coal or fracking sand. Most people are pretty happy to see turbine development that doesn't pollute their favorite stream or reduce half the county to wasteland. My buddy's vacation cabin is near a row of turbines and the only people that complained are some local people living right under the turbines (basically old school hillbilly types) who said the turbines make noise, so the power company bought them triple glazed windows probably worth more than their house.

[Pops]

I couldn't guess. I lived not far from Altamont wind farm, around since the '70s I guess, down in the Tehachapis too (both are in CA), I assume there are thousands in both tho I never counted.. I recently saw quite a few out in Kansas including a couple I'd guess are experimental, having huge blades with a length probably 50-75% of the tower height not sure if they are a new experiment or old.

[MD]

There were almost NO major windfarms in the northeast until just the last few years, at least not that I am aware of. I wasn't aware that there were major farms built back int he seventies.I knew there was a lot of prototyping going in the last seventies and early eighties, but I had thought they all went bust due to technology problems and crashing oil prices.

[Pops]

I guess it was 1981, those crunchy granola eaters out there had 30% of the world's wind power in the 90's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Pass_Wind_Farm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_California

[ROCKMAN]

Digging into the numbers I was surprised to see how little wind power had been developed in New England. Maybe 30 to 40 sites but most must be small. The only NE state to show a significant portion of their total e- demand from wind was Maine with 4.5% (in 2011). A number of big projects on the board but apparently moving slowly. Given the high demand and costs I would have expected more applications in that region.

Texas, Iowa and CA take the top three spots on the list.

[Surf]

If you look at the document below there is one page that show how much wind is installed in each state. The east cost is way behind the rest of the country.

http://awea.files.cms-plus.com/FileDownloads/pdfs/AWEA2Q2013WindEnergyIndustryMarketReport_Executive%20Summary.pdf

[MD]

If you look at the document below there is one page that show how much wind is installed in each state. The east cost is way behind the rest of the country.

http://awea.files.cms-plus.com/FileDownloads/pdfs/AWEA2Q2013WindEnergyIndustryMarketReport_Executive%20Summary.pdf

Very nice summary! The subsidies will have to resume if capacity is to grow at previous rates.

Frantic activity at the end of 2012 then zero installations for 2nd qtr 2013? Typical end of program crash.

Back on topic: 60,000 mw capacity @ 750kw each means approximately 80,000 new windmills!

Go peak oil go!

[PrestonSturges]

There are surprisingly few prime spots for wind turbines east of Ohio. The largest areas are around the Great Lakes. Vast areas of the midwestern plains are better than nearly anything in the east except for a few mountaintops.

[evilgenius]

I voted 1-500 because that's about right for the number I've personally seen. I've not watched them being built, but I have seen the various parts of them on both the highway and railcars, headed up north from Colorado to Wyoming. Last year I saw an entire train, miles long, headed there with nothing but turbine blades on it. Before that I had only seen them on trucks. The blades are huge, requiring specially long methods of transport. They are hard to miss.

[Surf]

"60,000 mw capacity @ 750kw each means approximately 80,000 new windmills! "

My understanding is that most of the turbines installed in the last 10 years are rated 1MW to 2MW. 7MW models are now commercially available. I have seen the General Electric 1.5MW model listed a number of times in wind farm announcements. Unfortunately I have never seen any document listing the most popular model or the current average capacity of a typical turbine.

[MD]

"60,000 mw capacity @ 750kw each means approximately 80,000 new windmills! "

My understanding is that most of the turbines installed in the last 10 years are rated 1MW to 2MW. 7MW models are now commercially available. I have seen the General Electric 1.5MW model listed a number of times in wind farm announcements. Unfortunately I have never seen any document listing the most popular model or the current average capacity of a typical turbine.

Neither have I. Call it 60,000 or so, which is still a lot.

[PeakOiler]

I can't really answer to a count, but the TECO/Westinghouse plant just north of Round Rock, TX. continues to have huge blades and nacelles sitting out in the compound next to the plant, ready to be shipped/transported to wherever they are going...

[TreeFarmer]

There just is not much wind in the southeast. It is the least windy area of the country. Except for a few ridges along the mountains and the coast, it is a waste of money to build a windmill.

TF