Random Note On Size Of New Wind Turbines -- February 19, 2016

Posted earlier: sometime later this year it will be quite a spectacle to see 75 wind turbine towers, and 225 blades roll out from east of Williston to north of Tioga for the new wind farm there.

The Houston Chronicle discusses the increasing logistical challenge of moving these incredibly big structures. The new blades are in excess of 200 feet long. A football field is 300 feet long. But one does not get a true feeling for how big these blades are until a truck hauling one passes you at 75 mph on the freeway.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports:

General Electric Co. is shutting down a factory that produces towers for wind turbines in Brazil that it picked up as part of its acquisition of Alstom SA’s energy assets.

The plant in Rio Grande do Sul state employs about 80 people.

GE is the biggest turbine maker in North America, and typically buys towers from outside suppliers instead of making them in-house. Closing the Brazil plant will continue that strategy.