| Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm | |
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| Country | Romania |
| Location | Fântânele / Cogealac |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Under construction |
| Construction began | 2008 |
| Owner(s) | CEZ Group |
| Turbine information | |
| Turbines | 240 |
| Manufacturer(s) | General Electric |
| Model(s) | 2.5XL |
| Hub height | 100 m (328 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 99 m (325 ft) |
| Wind farm information | |
| Type | Onshore |
| Land area | 11 km2 (4 sq mi) |
| Power generation information | |
| Installed capacity | 300 MW |
| Maximum capacity | 600 MW |
| Website http://www.cez.cz/en/power-plants-and-environment/wind-power-plant/fantanele-cegealac-wind-park.html |
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| As of January 2011 | |
The Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm in Romania with current installed nameplate capacity of 300 MW[1] It will have a total nameplate capacity of 600 MW of electricity from 240 General Electric 2.5xl wind turbines. The wind farm is being built for the CEZ Group.
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The project was first envisioned by United States, Delaware corporation Continental Wind Partners or (CWP) a renewable energy partnership backed by private equity fund Good Energies Investments with operations in several countries including Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Australia and New Zealand.[2] In 2008 Continental Wind Partners agreed to sell the 600 MW wind farm project to the Czech energy utility CEZ Group for an undisclosed sum.
Planning permission was granted in 2007 and construction began in September 2008, with the first turbine being erected by August 2009. The first stage of the project, the Fântânele farm, is expected to be finished by December 2010 with the erection of 139 turbines. As of September 21, 115 wind turbines were finished, of which 100 were already connected to the national grid.[3][4] The first phase has a nominal electric power output of 347.5 MW.[5] The second phase of the project involves the construction of another 101 wind turbines that will be erected in Cogealac and have a nominal power output of 252.5 MW and is expected to be completed by 2011.[6]
The wind farm will occupy 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of open field, 600 hectares (1,500 acres) in Fântânele and 500 hectares (1,200 acres) in Cogealac communes.[6] The wind farm is being constructed north of Constanţa, 17 kilometres (11 mi) west from the shore of the Black Sea.[7]
The entire project is expected to require a capital investment of approximately €1.1 billion.[8] At completion the Fântânele-Cogealac wind farm will be the largest onshore wind farm in Europe surpassing the 322 MW Whitelee Wind Farm in Scotland, United Kingdom.[9][10] The wind farm will account for 10% of the total green energy production in Romania at completion.[11]
As the figures given in the table above were published before the turbines had been operational for a full year they are projected rather than recorded figures. Wind speed is not constant, therefore, a wind farm's annual energy production never achieves the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor. Typical capacity factors are 20–40%, with values at the upper end of the range achieved on particularly favourable sites.[12][13] The expected capacity factor for Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm, calculated from the company's projected figures, is 30%.
The wind farm was projected to be constructed in two phases in Fântânele and Cogealac on an area of 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres).[6] The construction of the first phase of the wind farm on a 600 hectares (1,500 acres) plot of land started at Fântânele in October 2008 with the construction of 137 kilometres (85 mi) of access roads as well as the foundations for the wind turbines leaving a distance of 700 metres (2,300 ft) between them.[14] The land on which the wind farm is built is partially owned by the CEZ Group but most of it is leased for a period of 49 years from local land owners, who receive around €3,000 per year each in royalties.[11] For the connection of the individual turbines and the transportation of electricity 150 kilometres (93 mi) of cables were laid.[15] CEZ also commissioned Siemens to build four electric power transformation substations that are used to increase the voltage from 33kV to 100 kV and one main transformation station used to further increase the voltage to 400 kV so it can be suitable for use by Transelectrica, the national electric power transmission company of Romania.[16] For the construction of the 137 kilometres (85 mi) of roads 950,000 tonnes of crushed rock was used, and for the construction of a single wind turbine foundation 40 tonnes of rebar and 400 cubic metres of concrete were used as well as 105 pilings used to stabilise the structure driven into the earth at depths of up to 24 metres (79 ft).[7]
All of the infrastructure from the site was constructed by Wind Energy Service East Europe or WESEE, a joint-venture between Romanian company Electrogrup and German companies Montage GmbH and Windenergy Service GmbH.[17] The components of the wind turbines used at Fântânele are manufactured in Brazil, Spain and Germany for the blades, the nacelle, in Germany and the tower segments were produced in Germany and China and the United States for the electric and electronic component.[7] According to the rhythm of construction as much as 50 trucks enter and leave the site on an average day transporting around 8,000 tonnes of materials on a weekly basis, but figures were as high as 10,000 tonnes per day at the beginning of the construction.[7] For the assembly of the wind turbines giant cranes are used with lifting capacities between 500 and 700 tonnes.[7] The Fântânele wind farm is expected to cost around €600 million.[18] The first wind turbine at Fântânele to be connected to the national grid was commissioned on June 1'st 2010 having the number FE-28.[19]
The construction of the second phase of the wind farm on a 500 hectares (1,200 acres) plot of land at Cogealac started in 2010 but was postponed due to issues and conflicts with the mayor of Cogealac, Cati Hristu.[18] This phase includes the erecting of 101 General Electric 2.5xl wind turbines which will have a nominal power output of 252.5 MW.[14] The Cogealac wind farm involves capital investments of around €500 million and is expected to be complete by 2011.[18]
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