Wind energy is one of the renewable sources of energy that has been tapped by many countries around the globe. Developed and developing countries are facing a serious energy shortage crisis and they are looking at various energy options including the wind energy to tide over the energy crisis. As a part of increasing the wind energy production, different countries have tied with the private partners to set up wind farms across the open landscapes. Wind farms are nothing but a series of wind energy turbines that are joined together to generate electric power.
As a part of the wind farms, the components involved are wind turbines, access tracks, level area, underground cabling, switch yard, control kiosk and connection to the existing grid. The purpose of each access track is to provide easy access to the wind turbines, in case some maintenance work has to be done with the generators. Level area is nothing but a flat area that is laid around the foundation of the wind turbine generators. They provide the necessary strength and stability to the wind turbines and improve the strength of the turbine. These areas are also called hard stand areas.
The wind turbines are connected to each other by cabling which are laid under the ground. The network of cables connecting the different wind energy turbines is called the collector network. Each and every wind farm has a switch yard that connects the wind farm to the existing the state power grid. The switch yard has a control mechanism that helps the electric power to move in and out of the grid. The switch yard essentially consists of a transformer, circuit breakers and other necessary electrical monitoring equipments. These Switch yards are completely fenced so that the local population doesn't get in contact with the electrical connections in the switch yard.
Sometimes these wind farms are also called as wind ranches in southern part of the United States of America, as in that part of the world farms are usually referred to by the name ranches. In countries like Denmark and Sweden, they are referred as wind parks. Wind farming has a lot of commonality with the traditional farming methods. Both are located in the rural areas. Both are based on the principles of harnessing natural energy. In the case of traditional farming, sun light and rainfall play a major part in the farming activities and in the case of wind farms, the wind plays a major part. Both farming activities are totally dependent on using the right techniques for harnessing the natural resources. Another major link between the two farms is the over dependence on the natural resources. If there is rain drought in a particular area, the cultivation gets totally affected and the volume of grains produced will come down drastically. Similarly, in the case of wind farms, when there is a wind drought condition in the region where the wind farm has been installed, it will be difficult for the Wind Turbines to generate the power and power generated might dip to zero levels.
