Lillgrund wind farm

The Lillgrund wind farm was officially opened in June 2008. It is located around 10 km off the coast of southern Sweden, just south of Öresund Bridge. With its 48 wind turbines, Lillgrund is Sweden’s biggest offshore wind farm and one of the largest in the world. The wind farm will generate 0.33 TWh annually. This corresponds to the domestic electricity demand of more than 60,000 homes.

Why Lillgrund?
To achieve maximum possible output, a wind turbine must be sited in the right place, where the winds are strong and uniform and can generate a large amount of energy. Such places are usually offshore. Lillgrund in the Öresund Sound is one of the areas considered to have the very best conditions for wind power. The wind velocity here is eight to ten m/s, which is ideal for wind power. A moderate depth of water is also important, so that it will not be unreasonably expensive to build the wind farm. The deeper the water, the more expensive it would be to build. At Lillgrund, the depth of water is between four and ten metres.

Facts:
Height: 115 m max. to blade tips
Rotor diameter: 93 m
Speed: 6 – 16 rpm
Rating: 2.3 MW/wind turbine
Power generation: 330 GWh/year (corresponds to the domestic electricity demand of 60,000 homes)
Wind speed when the turbines are running: 3 – 25 m/s
Siemens Energy supplies both wind turbines and the infrastructure for grid connections from one source.