Steelwinds

Catherine & I are just back from visiting our friends in Kent, OH. On the way there, I knew we’d pass the new Steelwinds wind farm in Lackawanna, but I didn’t realise just how striking it would be from the Buffalo border crossing. We drove into Lackawanna, and parked on the lake shore. Steelwinds looks like this:

Steelwinds, Lackawanna, NY

The Clipper turbines turn extremely slowly, and are some of the most graceful ones I’ve seen. Good work!

2 comments

  1. Excuse my ignorance, but is slow turning good? I’m assuming it indicates efficiency, right?

    Rob

  2. They’re slow only because they’re big. Big or small, turbine blade tips have about the same linear velocity, so the longer the blade, the less the rotational speed (since v = rω).

    These turbines are about 96-100m in diameter. The first ones I worked with were about â…“ of that, and the (quarter century old!) one on Fair Isle is about â…™.

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