30 / 80
wiredInUSA - March 2016
30
Wind power engineering specialist K2
Management is predicting heights of up to
170m for future turbine towers, using new
construction techniques and materials. This
compares to the tallest towers of 150m at
present.
Tower heights have increased steadily over
the last decade as operators seek stronger
wind speeds higher in the atmosphere.
According to K2 Management wind
resource experts, a 3MW turbine located in
a forest area, for example, with an average
wind speed of 6m per second, will meet
13 percent more wind speed if the turbine
height is doubled from 70m to 140m.
Annual energy yield prediction would
increase by almost 30 percent because of
reduced surface aerodynamic drag and
the viscosity of the air. Therefore, going up
to 170m from 70m will boost energy yield
prediction by 35 percent on average.
K2 Management CEO Henrik Stamer said:
“170m towers could become a common
sight in the near future in markets like
the USA and Germany as part of a new
renewable skyline. We expect to see
more of these mega designs as we help
our clients get the most out of their wind
projects.”
High wind
Aqua Comms has selected Interxion to
provide data center services in Ireland.
Interxion’s data center will offer the
connectivity options that Aqua Comms
requires to meet clients’ needs.
Dublin-based Aqua Comms provides
a link between Ireland and America
through the AEConnect transatlantic
fiber optic cable from New York to
London. AEConnect features the latest
technology of 130x100Gbps per fiber pair
and is designed to meet the exponential
surge in bandwidth demand from
carriers, global data centers, financial
services companies, and cloud and
content providers.
The fiber optic cable was deployed in
cooperation with Equinix.
Data center