How Wind Turbines Are Made? (Mega Factories Video)
A wind turbine is a device that converts the wind's kinetic energy into electrical energy.
Wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, with either horizontal or vertical axes. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. Wind turbine design is a careful balance of cost, energy output, and fatigue life.
Wind turbines convert wind energy to electrical energy for distribution.
Conventional horizontal axis turbines can be divided into three components:
- The rotor, which is approximately 20% of the wind turbine cost, includes the blades for converting wind energy to low speed rotational energy.
- The generator, which is approximately 34% of the wind turbine cost, includes the electrical generator, the control electronics, and most likely a gearbox (e.g., planetary gear box), adjustable-speed drive, or continuously variable transmission component for converting the low-speed incoming rotation to high-speed rotation suitable for generating electricity.
- The surrounding structure, which is approximately 15% of the wind turbine cost, includes the tower and rotor yaw mechanism.
A 1.5 (MW) wind turbine of a type frequently seen in the United States has a tower 80 meters (260 ft) high. The rotor assembly (blades and hub) weighs 22,000 kilograms (48,000 lb). The nacelle, which contains the generator, weighs 52,000 kilograms (115,000 lb). The concrete base for the tower is constructed using 26,000 kilograms (58,000 lb) reinforcing steel and contains 190 cubic meters (250 cu yd) of concrete. The base is 15 meters (50 ft) in diameter and 2.4 meters (8 ft) thick near the center.
Video Credits: Wind Towers Scotland, www.lmwindpower.com & www.enercon.de
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Someone told me wind turbines are good for 20 years. It seems so short a time for such a big project. 100 yrs would be good.
About 5 years on Texas coast, salt water killed them.
Yeah, agreed. 20 years is gone in the blink of the eye.
Being replaced by more efficient turbines in Scotland.
@@eltonspurlock28 years
Would have been nice to see a bit more detail of how it gets put together with out the load music.
It felt like one of those old 4-pane instructionals for How To Draw Pane 1 - A single large oval off center Pane 2 - A smaller circle on the right of the oval and a triangle in the middle of the oval Pane 3 - The circle is suddenly a fully rendered ear and the triangle is a completed nose with shading Pane 4 - The Mona Lisa and all background details
What is "load" music and isn't "with out" supposed to be one word? Just wondering???
Amaaaazing drone footage, the wind turbine testing had my immature side rollling 😂😂
The windmill blades are not recyclable. They are buried underground in Utah USA. Currently more than 1000 pieces.
So ...we could do that forever ...who cares .. concrete buildings aren't recyclable either so we just bury the rubble and no one cares because it doesn't matter
@@markdoan1472 If I - accidentally - drop my plastic bread bag on the street, I will receive a fine of 100 Euros from the government. The attitude of IPCC is that we should have more more more windmills. And we will going to bury the blades, next to those 1000 other blades in Utah and in the African deserts. Who decides what the environment is?
@@benbontjer Its just such a tiny amount of what we actually bury .. its completely inert and non toxic .. people just need to not worry its a man made object , we can bury these things forever and no one would notice any difference above ground , its simply a non issue
@@markdoan1472 You're avoiding what I write, but I'm used to that.
Can you also do a segment on floating wind turbines far at sea? That would be very cool.
The would be the same thing, just with a crane on a barge and the platform is different
And what do you think the point in them being far out to sea is when the power generated is for use on land? I’ll tell you, a nightmare 😉
@@RayinStirling higher throughput.
@@globusine in what respect?
@@RayinStirling higher wind speeds on the ocean/sea, plus theres practically no land space limits
Amazing works ... Stay safe all💕💕
More on how they are operated please 😁👍🏾
Really liked the soundtrack, but it could have been a little lower volume background music.
Turned the volume down on my phone.
@@jayrhough1912 that would have been too easy LOL!
Great engineering
I would have liked to seen more of the inside operation as how they work.
Amazing video. The subtitles are very informative, but they are huge. Would you consider to change the size and location? In any case I will continue to watch the channel. Good work!!
I would like to see what kind of energy is used. Those were fosil forklifts and trucks and how did they generate the heat for the wing treatment. What is the pollution impact of all the welds, all those cranes that had to be drew to the location. Which parts of the world did all the ingredients in the paint were sent from, and how about the steel factory and it's impact? Considering all that I still believe that anyone calling this project "sustainable" is a madman.
In the Netherlands I saw a crane that has blowers to stabilize load. Looks really sci-fi and no rope pulling by multiple people required.
Wind power technology for green environment
Good work
Thank you for your feedback :) Which process you liked the most?
First time ever saw this, amazing
4:13 The amount of traffic that must make... Oh my Lord.
Best ones 😃
All this steel, this energy and this concrete (for ever in the ground) for such a little electricity produced! A significative part of them (depending on the version) are so inefficient that it dosen't even pay (in energy) the energetic cost of their life (from absolutely nothing, the steel not extract yet, to the most destruct they can be at the end of their lives). Lot of people who work in favour of it, or allow it on their space, admit that it is because of the subventions or because of the lobby pressure. It is ecologicaly one of the solutions with the less paybak. A part from that, great video quality and an interesting factory process! Thanks for the work !
I was told exactly this from an insider in the wind turbine business.You can add the ongoing maintenance and repair costs as well. It's more about giving the impression of being "free and green"
✔ GREAT VIDEO!!
Ironic that the metal for these supposed "green" machines was manufactured using processes that release carbon. So the more turbines we make the more carbon we release. Is the idea that we reach some sort of equilibrium at some point and they offset it somehow?
I can't believe on this Earth in this day and time somewhere far far away from me there's a giant Wing flapping inside of a Lab, holy bojoly
Awesome product of electricity generate....
Thank you EW team for sharing this video!! 👌🏽👌🏽 If possible, do share loop reactor Erection or any refinery process. That will help.
Good job
I think wind energy, coupled with solar, tidal and ocean current generated power are each key components of a sustainable energy future, but nuclear power and modern distribution networks are critical to making any of it feasible. Newer nuclear power plant designs need to be brought online so older, inefficient, designs can be retired.
I agree with the last part of your statement, but I have to disagree with the first sentiment. Wind per MegaWatt is simply not competitive in terms of cost. The maintenance of these turbines is enormous and also treacherous. Solar and wind both have a footprint problem, they require too much acreage per MegaWatt to be viable and that doesn't even include the environmental impacts of manufacturing and erecting them. Nuclear has a high startup cost but can run for far longer than any production solar panel and much longer than any wind turbine. Nuclear is much more efficient at energy generation and can be monitored more closely.
Nuclear power is truly the only way to power the future, solar and wind are not feasible.
Nuclear power is madness. Regardless of age or design of the power plant, it is still too risky to do. The waste from nuclear power is massive and too expensive to deal with (not fuel rods - the other contaminated byproducts). There are no facilities to store nuclear waste and now it is being piled in drums. It will all need to be dealt with time and time again until a suitable means is used. It all costs money and by the time it's all factored in, nuclear is incredibly expensive. Please don't try mentioning Thorium - it does not work. It's not a new idea and has been tried for decades. Hydro is the future, be it on land or through tidal means. It can be predicted and worked with - unlike wind and its pathetic output, huge costs to make and erect a wind site. Wind is utterly useless for the energy and costs put into making a unit. I'd also go for solar too. Sure it's not that powerful but 8 panels on a roof gives 2kw - enough to power a small house. Every house should have solar by law.
@@andrewblocher9110 thank you for your detailed explanation. I was searching comments to see if someone explained the cost benefits of wind turbines as compared to solar and nuclear.
What is the qualification to do such work and how to approach ..
I really love this channel, everything that i ever wonder in my life u guys anwer it. Keep it up
Next episode: How are we going to get rid of the non recyclable blades of broken-down wind turbines.
Same way we get rid of any non recyclable ... its not toxic bury it lol ..who cares
The lights blink because they don't produce enough electricity to keep the lights running. :)
... And then they have to be buried because wind turbine wings can't be recycled, such a shame 😥
they can be recycled, but there is more money in subsidies and scare tactics, than in reducing the components into a material that can be reincorporated into insulation, or the body fillers of other fiber glassed components
Some places they don’t even do that they just let them fall over
@@billkratzer1 it would cost more to recycle the carbon fibre than what it’s worth
What is this obsession with recycle ...your aware all concrete structures when done are turned to rubble and buried .. once in the ground it becomes ..well ..ground ... who gives a rats rear if a benign non toxic material is buried and blades are an infinitesimal amount of what we bury ... I think you idiots just like to say the word recycle ... from the ground it came and to the ground it returns
@@Tangaroa775 Its why we bury inert material ...rightfully so all the time
It is a spectacular video, I wish I could share it on my channel, since I always do special transports (virtually in Euro Truck simulator and in American Truck simulator) so that people have an idea of what in reality Greetings and thank's for sharing
Tower on-site assembly shown in this video is not steel tower but concrete tower.
When the wind quits blowing, what do you tell the electrical customers about why 100% backup power is needed? What happened in Texas?
I wanted to see those nuts and bolts
This should be titled "how to waste millions of dollars"
The windmills in the video are different that the ones we have around where I live at in minnesota. There is a company in my town that puts them together. Fagen Inc.
60 people were assaulted by wind turbines as youths. Please, do not judge them. Instead, help these poor people see the good in wind turbines.
have you ever heard the noise of the wind in the turbines?
Although it looks interesting and fascinating, the wind energy harvesting is relic of the past. Its too inefficient and takes up too much real state to make sense.
It will make sense AFTER the 2030 sustainable growth mandates have taken effect and the Earth's populations have decreased by 95%.
amazingggggggggggggg
Blades are made composite materials which is difficult to recycle and have shortest life so again have environment degradation should found better recyclable materials other than composite
If we can develop a way to harness wind power without the need of such an elaborate setup to do it.
Give it a go ...were all ears and investors will come knocking if you have something that works
You mean "How Bird Killers Are Made"...
Domestic cats kill way more birds, I think.
@@GatlinMoviesChannel So that makes it ok when wind turbines kill many birds. It just makes it harder for "feral" cats to survive. Domestic cats are fed and don't have to hunt...idiot...
You are asking us what we think about its feasibility. To do that we have to know how much it costs to build, erect and maintain one turbine. The predicted lifetime of a turbine and its ability to 'earn' money in let's say one year. Without telling us all of this it's impossible to make any assessments as will everybody agree no doubt
What they produce
More efficient wind turbine generators with different blade configurations will evolve that will be easier to erect and cost less money that will last longer and will be less destructive to the bird populations somewhere down the road. Wind turbines are here to stay.
With a shit ton of our tax dollars thats how.
20 years is the run time
The question is not really whether wind generation is financially viable, it is whether we have any choice. Along with other renewables, there is no choice.
Do maintenance costs not factor in at all when you calculate operating and generating cost? Assuming no failures or breakdowns, there are still basic routine maintenance tasks that need to be done like inspections and lubrication of all moving parts. I guarantee you that the person or persons won't do that for free nor will the equipment and materials needed just show up. The idea of free electricity is such a logical fallacy. Even the idea that wind turbines are green is a joke. It might be better but it's still not clean.
A little bit off topic but keep in mind that in Hawaii more electricity is generated from oil than geothermal hard to believe but true.
Clockman What a total waste of time and money. It proves that wind power alone will never produce the energy required on its own.
These companies are making money. How, you ask? Because they are being subsidized by our tax dollars! :(
Stupid is the best word to describe wind power generation.
Water is the best.
Nope ... cost per kilowatt hour is what decides .. not emotion . You compare the costs and go with what's cheapest .. No one ever decides smart or dumb , good or bad without numbers ... Numbers dictate intelligence
I'd say it's irresponsible to not them and any/every other means other than using fossil fuels. The more things we can do to reduce the need to use fossil fuels the better.
Wind turbines ain't one of them. Just ask the folks in Texas about last winter. God made fossil fuels for a reason. We have enjoyed them for centuries.
@@tribulationprepper787 God didn’t make fossil fuels. He tried to hide the bulk of them from our dumb asses
Just go nuclear
Don't they have wind turbine costs down to 3 cents per kilowatt/hr. That is amazing.
Great video, terrible soundtrack.
7000 KWh for 8 hours a day for 25 years ?
Many generate round the clock.. where you get 8 hours from ?
yes
Why where the blades so wiggly!😂😂😂😂
The same reason tall buildings sway in the wind -- flexibility. It's either flex or break.
100 ème commentaires, hou! Hou!!🎉🎉
The cheapest energy is from nuclear power plants, we in Bulgaria have a nuclear power plant built by COMMUNISM 50 years ago and supply it to half of Europe with electricity
Hi
Yes, it's sustainable no doubt. But huge initial investment interns of output.
WHATS THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF THESE, AND THE RREAPIR AND MAINTENANCE COSTS?
😔We desperately need Tony Stark to explain the Arc reactor to our scientists. Otherwise we are stuck here😔😔😔
Amazing but not at all feasible.
I do not see wind being a sustainable method of power production. It is way too costly compared to nuclear power. These towers require a lot of costly maintenance to keep them operating. Managers who do not do the proper maintenance, when it is scheduled, shortens the life of the unit. And there goes any hope of ROI.
Because of the cost afterwords I’m told it’s not worth it
And we know that the random "they" who are telling you this are engineers, and not possibly shills from the oil companies...
Not sustainable without excessive expenditure...
Why don't you show the most interesting parts like fitting, connecting... Oh nooo mannn... I was so eager to watch.. But... Zero now
If government stays out. Maybe it will pay off.
You mean you will pay it off by tax
For 5 years ago Denmark stopped with building wind turbines on land. The reason: the results are not economic and the Danish people don't want to see those things anymore in their beautiful nature.
👍♥️
Background music is too loud....too direct....too strong....just nasty.
99 ème commentaires
I dont like windmills. The overdrive gear is just asking for wear and tear that require a lot maintenance. The blades are pain in the ass to move around. The construction/design/assembly is not an elegant process. hopefully something more reasonable comes along.
It's already HEAR it's called Nuclear
Takes more energy to make these wind turbines than they produce.
Ummmm, dislike! Only because the audience would have been more interested in how the blades are made (proprietary I get it) but could have spent more time on the final installation too.
Yes wind Powered is feasible! Hoever Once the ones around me are over 10 years old and need basic maintenance!
All the steel, all the welding and processing. One turbine can never recuperate the energy use to build one.
I personally would love to see more wind turbines all over the world
Have them near your house..so loud...even if there off the make noise....oh and it's great picking up dead birds from hitting the blades.
Done Subscrebe By Rony Ardiansyah Structure Channrl
For countries with a high level of windy climate all through the years it is good option. Developing countries may try this out if God Father World Bank gives a nice loan option which doesnot pinch the nations economy interms of servicing the loan. For first world economy it would be far better option to look at nuclear energy.
Nuclear is way more expensive. On shore wind is cheap.
The wind turbines produce about a third of their rated capacities compared to over 90% for nuclear. They also begin wearing and losing efficiency as soon as placed in service and are placed in landfills after their short 20-year lives. Since the wind doesn't always blow, wind power requires supplemental power, usually natural gas kept on spinning standby. Battery backup is bad joke, requiring huge quantities of materials for scant few hours of service. The illogic of wind and solar when compared to nuclear defies belief.
97 ème commentaires
No
Just use nuclear instead.
I support green energy... ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
You skipped how the blades are made…. Kinda lame
And how do they make the resin that goes into those fiberglass blades which are none recyclable?
Wind turbines are most definitely feasible
Absolutely terrible for the environment.
Wind turbines are a joke! What is the actual dollar cost to manufacture, transport, and assemble one of these monstrosities? How much electricity does one turbine need to produce before it becomes profitable? They are mechanical systems that require constant maintenance, and as stated, they only last 20 years. They are ugly, noisy, they kill birds and are a blight on the landscape. I submit that they will NEVER be profitable or "break-even" which is why the government has to subsidize each and every one of them. Environmentalists would cringe at the amount of energy required to manufacture and transport all of the parts via "special vehicles". They use more energy than they can produce.
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Next time stop with the stupid audio background 🙂
Wow, I really wanted to watch your videos but I COULD NOT WATCH THEM, why? It's because you had NO AUTO-GENERATED CLOSED CAPTIONS, MAN! I'm nearly deaf, so I GOTTA HAVE THOSE CLOSED CAPTIONS! For God's sake, please CLICK ON THE CLOSED CAPTIONS! I checked 10 of your vids and NONE OF THEM HAD CAPTIONS! Lotta deaf, smart people out there, ya know?
There's no voice on the video -thus, nothing to caption. You're not missing anything except some mediocre background music. The only explanations are what's already written on the screen. So, yes, YOU CAN WATCH THIS.
No. And they look like a huge ugly footprint.
Too expensive to build, too expensive to maintain, they take up a lot of land, they are an eye sorer...not worth it.
Takes up too much land? Are you tripping? They fit really well among farmland and forest without blocking out the sun like solar panels, and most of their space is vertical with a small ground footprint. Sure, you wouldn't want to put a house under a spinning blade like that, but there's plenty of land where there will never be houses. As for your "too expensive" argument I know that you're dishonestly ignoring the externalities of fossil fuels with that cheap rhetoric. People are waking up to fossil fuel shill talking points like yours, so don't be surprised when people call you out for them.
Takes up too much land? Are you tripping? They fit really well among farmland and forest without blocking out the sun like solar panels, and most of their space is vertical with a small ground footprint. Sure, you wouldn't want to put a house under a spinning blade like that, but there's plenty of land where there will never be houses. As for your "too expensive" argument I know that you're dishonestly ignoring the externalities of fossil fuels with that cheap rhetoric. People are waking up to fossil fuel shill talking points like yours, so don't be surprised when people call you out for them.
@@vitaminluke5597 Alright, well you obviously don't live near farmland. Yeah, the farmers get a little bit of cash for giving up their land, but for each windmill, they have to give up several acres. You can pretend all you want to that windmills are the answer, but they aren't cheap to build, they take a lot of raw materials to produce, and they don't produce a whole lot of energy unless a lot of them are erected. And yes, they do kill birds. Driving around the US, I rarely see more than 1/2 of them running, and I see MANY that are broken. They are VERY expensive to fix. You want to stop using oil and natural gas, fine. But don't buy into the "green new deal" lies which is mainly politics and money and DO NOT force this stuff on the world. Let it happen in its own time or you will wipe out economies.
@@evangelicalcatholics Adapt to the green energy paradigm or destroy the economy through the enormous climate change driven refuge crisis we're going to experience. No way am I trusting "the market" to correct itself when all it has done is destroy the planet in the name of profit. It's the reason we're in this predicament. Screw that Ayn Rand swill you chug for breakfast.
@@vitaminluke5597 Climate change happens whether mankind is here or not. It's part of the natural cycle of the earth. Any other talk about climate change is purely political and capitalistic. Look at all the money folks are making with these windmills and electric cars and such. Don't be fooled.
No not feasible long term sorry. Too many consequences ignored but I guess it's big business with lots of rich people pulling very big strings and lots of opportunity for virtue signalling...
Jesus Christ is everyone quoting "what every one knows" instead of actually thinking about it. It's pretty easy to do the math. I guess our oil company overlords have been doing a good job of destroying the American education system. Distopia awaits.
Wind turbines are an incredible waste of time, money, and resources. It would take decades to see any ROI.
Not to mention they completely shut down in icing conditions.
How long do you think it takes to get a ROI on a hydro scheme or the ongoing cost of coal fired power stations. The cost to create these would be astronomical but well worth it. Wind Turbines are here to stay and a great benefit to communities unless you have a better solution.
@@lkytdsvc Yes, I have a better solution. Don't tear down the coal fired and gas fired generating plants, with the expectation that solar and wind can handle 100% of our electrical requirements. We in Texas just suffered through a horrible winter storm where the ice totally paralyzed the wind turbines and solar collectors. We had a perfectly functional system, but the tree huggers like yourself dismantled the system that worked in favor of the system which didn't. If you want your system, fine, but don't deny me a system that WORKS.
@@rkelsey3341 One thing I'm not is a tree hugger and I believe we need both until we come up with something better. I'm in Australia and we export massive amount of coal. I have no issue in nuclear power stations if they're safe. We will run out of coal eventually or it will just get too expensive to mine! We need a combination of all the above and R & D for other alternatives for the future that doesn't require fossil fuel only. I don't deny anyone anything.
What are the numbers ... why do people say things without cost per kilowatt hour with age and maintenance factored in .... How come no one backs up claims with numbers when claims mean nothing without them ... You make a claim , prove it with numbers , not with noise and emotion .. The truly intelligent lay out the number to determine viability or not ... You might be right but where's the damn numbers
Wind turbines are a very wise choice for our energy supply.