wind turbines from space

Update April 2007: I’ve created a Google My Maps page for these locations: Wind Turbines from Space.

Messing about with Google Maps, I went looking for wind turbines. And yup, you can see ’em:

Update, 3rd May: following my posting to awea-windnet, I got three more:

Thanks to David Wright for the California location, and Joe Duddy of RES (my old employer!) for the two from England. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the latter two windfarms.

Update, 6 May: Found a couple more windfarms from space on googleglobetrotting.com:

Update, 20 June: Google now has worldwide coverage.

Update, 29 June:

  • McBride Lake, Alberta — image taken while in construction. You can see the tower sections and the blades laid out. You can even make out the crane installing one of the northern turbines. This is a Vision Quest Windelectric project.

11 comments

  1. The Toronto turbine is, I’m pretty sure, not there. Toronto’s maps in Google maps are fairly old. If you look a little north east, you see a large empty, dirt area — pretty much that whole area is developed now.

  2. Then there’s the Kortright 10kW turbine at 43° 49′ 52.58″ N, 79° 35′ 17.21″ W – probably the smallest one visible.

  3. Siemens’ colossal factory in Brande, Denmark is visible here: 55° 57′ 20.40″ N, 9° 7′ 23.06″ E.
    And just for balance, Vestas’s slightly smaller Rinkoebing works are here: 56° 5′ 19.68″ N, 8° 14′ 13.12″ E.

    I’ve been to both …

  4. some near Curaçao: 12° 14′ 15.01″ N, 69° 1′ 39.43″ W. Thanks to Margo Guda for the tip!

  5. So, put the Playa Kanoa too.
    12°10’1.92″N, 68°51’8.80″W. This makes for a total installed capacity of 12 MW, on a grid with slightly over 160 MW installed capacity and a peak load of 110 MW. Not bad for a small island that does not have grid ties to any larger grid!

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