Poppy the Wind Turbine 2010-present

Our wind turbine is a 750kW GWP-47. The nacelle is 55m tall on a steel tower, and the blades are 23.5m long. The turbine is situated on the dock wall of Methil Dock No. 3 which was initially a coal dock  for exporting the vast amounts of coal mined in Fife and latterly to import coal for the now demolished Methil Coal Power Station.

The wind flows over the each of the blades on the wind turbine producing either lift or drag on one side of the blade. Each blade on the turbine has the same profile so the forces on all three blades act in the same direction. This drives the blades around, extracting energy from the wind and turning it into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy is then transferred, via a gearbox, to a generator. The spinning generator produces electricity at 400V, 50Hz so that it can be fed into The Hydrogen Office energy system.

The electricity from the wind turbine is distributed by our smart grid system, part of the Levenmouth Community Energy Project. Excess electricity is fed into the electrolyser to make hydrogen gas for storage and transport, with the remaining surplus sold to the grid.