Wind Power
![Picture](/uploads/6/6/4/1/66416973/635060868.jpg?397)
How Much is Produced in Manitoba: 237 Megawatts between 2 wind farms (Manitoba Hydro, 2008).
Where is it Located:
1) St. Leon Wind Farm - Southern Manitoba, 99 Megawatts
2) St. Joseph Wind Farm - Southern Manitoba, 138 Megawatts
(Manitoba Hydro, 2008)
How it Produces Electricity:
Wind turbines protrude into the air like white pillars, dotting vast windy landscapes with their multi-bladed design. Those blades are where wind energy begins. When the wind whistles between speeds of 13 km/h and 89 km/h the blades are free to rotate (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
The blades rotate a shaft at around 30-60 rotations per minute (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). This is far to slow for electricity to be produced (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). To resolve this the low-speed shaft is fed into a gear box, within this gear box the energy is transferred to a higher speed shaft which can rotate at 1000-1800 rotations per minute, enough to generate electricity (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
The high speed shaft is then fed into a generator, the rotation of the high speed shaft is caused by the physical force of wind, the generator takes that physical force and converts it into electricity (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
Wind turbines use tools such as wind vanes and anemometers, to judge wind direction and speed respectively (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). The data generated by these tools is fed to a controller, which can release a brake on the blades when speeds are favorable, and adjust the direction of the turbine to be facing the optimal direction (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
Where is it Located:
1) St. Leon Wind Farm - Southern Manitoba, 99 Megawatts
2) St. Joseph Wind Farm - Southern Manitoba, 138 Megawatts
(Manitoba Hydro, 2008)
How it Produces Electricity:
Wind turbines protrude into the air like white pillars, dotting vast windy landscapes with their multi-bladed design. Those blades are where wind energy begins. When the wind whistles between speeds of 13 km/h and 89 km/h the blades are free to rotate (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
The blades rotate a shaft at around 30-60 rotations per minute (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). This is far to slow for electricity to be produced (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). To resolve this the low-speed shaft is fed into a gear box, within this gear box the energy is transferred to a higher speed shaft which can rotate at 1000-1800 rotations per minute, enough to generate electricity (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
The high speed shaft is then fed into a generator, the rotation of the high speed shaft is caused by the physical force of wind, the generator takes that physical force and converts it into electricity (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).
Wind turbines use tools such as wind vanes and anemometers, to judge wind direction and speed respectively (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). The data generated by these tools is fed to a controller, which can release a brake on the blades when speeds are favorable, and adjust the direction of the turbine to be facing the optimal direction (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015).