What Are The Dimensions of a Wind Turbine?

The world is geared towards sustainability to protect the environment and ensure efficiency. This move means that nations must rely on renewable energy sources and reduce carbon emissions. One of the most viable sources of energy is wind energy.

Wind energy is clean, reliable, efficient, and accessible in every corner of the world. Still, on the same line of sustainability, companies are looking into resizing their machinery and equipment to be smaller.

However, the wind energy industry is doing the opposite. While traditional wind turbines were smaller, this era of technological advancements is presenting bigger and bigger turbines. These structures are very tall, some reaching over 280 meters (918.6 ft.). In addition, the blades are not a small feat either.

One rotation from these blades can power over 350 houses. Therefore, it is time to look at wind turbines, their dimensions, and how their sizes affect their efficiency.

Average Dimensions of a Wind Turbine

Hub Height

The hub height of a wind turbine is the distance from the ground to the center of the rotor. The average hub height is roughly 90 meters, but this figure has been growing significantly. On the other hand, offshore turbines have longer hub heights than land turbines. Their height ranges from 100 to 150 meters. This is because turbine towers are being built taller to capture more energy.

Rotor Diameter

The turbine’s rotor diameter is the width of the circle swept of the rotation blade. Early wind turbines had rotors reach a maximum of 115 meters (377.2 ft.). Today, their diameters reach up to 240 meters (787.4 ft.). The enormous rotor diameters make it easy for turbines to sweep more area and produce more power by capturing more wind.

Blade Length

The wind turbine blades are the elongated objects protruding from the center of the motor. They are anywhere from 50 meters to 120 meters (164 ft. to 393.7 ft.). Wind flows through the blade and decreases air pressure on the other side. Therefore, the blade dimensions play a big role in determining energy production.

List the 10 biggest wind turbines in the world and their respective dimensions.

1. Vestas V236-15.0 MW

The Vestas Company in Denmark built the biggest wind turbine called the V236-15.0. This turbine can produce over 80 gigawatts yearly. It is built on a swept area spanning 43,743 square meters and is used in areas with high winds.

  • Structure height: 280 meters (918.63 ft.)
  • Blade length: 115.5 meters (378.9 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 236 meters (774.2 ft.)

2. GE Haliade-X

The GE Haliade-X is a wind turbine made by General Electric and is the second biggest wind turbine. The turbine was installed in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and produces around 14 MW of power.

  • Structure height: 260 meters (853 ft.)
  • Blade length: 107 meters (351 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 220 meters (721 ft.)
  • Hub height: 135 meters (442.9 ft.)

3. SG 14-236 DD – Siemens Gamesa

As the largest offshore wind turbine, Siemens Games built the SG 14-236 DD. It has a swept area of 43,500 square meters, ranking it among the biggest wind turbines globally. Here are its dimensions.

  • Structure height: 260 meters (853 ft.)
  • Blade length: 108 meters (354 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 236 meters (774.2 ft.)
  • Hub height: 110 meters (360 ft.)

4. Areva 8MW

A French energy company built the Areva 8MW wind turbine in November 2013. This is one of the biggest wind turbines globally by size and capacity.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 250 meters (820 ft.)
  • Blade length: 88.4meters (290 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 180 meters (590.5 ft.)
  • Hub height: 140 meters (459.3 ft.)

5. Max Bogl Wind AG

The Max Bogls is among the ten biggest wind turbines in the world. It is installed in Gaildorf, Stuttgart, Germany.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 246.5 meters (808.7 ft.)
  • Blade length: 82.4 meters (279.3 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 178 meters (583.9 ft.)
  • Hub height: 190 meters (623 ft.)

6. SeaTitan 10 MW

American energy technologies company AMSC built one of the biggest wind turbines in the world. The SeaTitan is tall enough to produce over 10 megawatts of energy.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 225meters (738 ft.)
  • Blade length: 98 meters (321 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 190 meters (623 ft.)
  • Hub height: 125 meters (410 ft.)

7. Vestas V164-8.0 MW

Vestas is the biggest wind turbine maker in the world, and you can expect it to have some of the tallest wind turbines. This offshore wind turbine is built on a 21,000 square feet swept area, weighs, and can generate 8 megawatts.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 220 meters (721 ft.)
  • Blade length: 80 meters (262.4 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 164 meters (524 ft.)
  • Hub height: 120 meters (393.7 ft.)

8. Sway Turbine ST10

Sway, a Norwegian tech company, built one of the biggest offshore wind turbines, the Sway Turbine ST10. It can deliver up to 10 megawatts of power with a speed of 2 RPM.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 205 meters (672.5 ft.)
  • Blade length: 67 meters (219.8 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 164 meters (538 ft.)
  • Hub height: 90 meters (295 ft.)

9. Enercon E-126

The Enercon E-126 wind turbine was constructed by German company Enercon in 2007 and is among the tallest and biggest wind turbines globally. It generates around 7.580 KW at speeds between 5 and 7 rotations per minute.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 198 meters (649 ft.)
  • Blade length: 60 meters (196.8 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 127 meters (416.6 ft.)
  • Hub height: 135 meters (442.9 ft.)

10. Samsung S7.0-171

The Samsung S7.0-171 wind turbine was installed by Samsung Heavy Industries in 2013 to be among the biggest wind turbines ever built. It is built with a permanent magnet generator and a planet flex pin gearbox.

Dimensions

  • Structure height: 196 meters (643 ft.)
  • Blade length: 85.5 meters (280.5 ft.)
  • Rotor diameter: 171 meters (562 ft.)
  • Hub height: 110 meters (360.8 ft.)

What Are The Dimensions of a Wind Turbine Blade?

The average of a wind turbine blade ranges from 1 meter to 120 meters. There is no set standard or limit to the dimensions of wind turbine blades. However, engineers build them to specific designs to avoid bypassing the laws of physics. For example, extremely long blades may start to bend and flex, causing a collision with the towers.

So far, the longest wind turbine blade on record is that of the Vestas-V236, which is 115.5 meters long. The Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD is 108 meters (354.3 ft.) long. GE Halidade-X was the first wind turbine to introduce extra-long turbine blades in 2019, with a 107-meter (351 ft.) long blade.

The length of these blades has doubled to increase efficiency despite putting more mechanical stress on the structure. They, therefore, require lighter materials and more-advanced designs.

How Does the Size of a Wind Turbine Affect How Much Energy it generates?

Larger turbine models are more sustainable because they generate more energy than smaller variants. In addition, bigger turbines are better because they can reach higher above the earth’s surface, where winds blow stronger. This enables the extraction of more energy to work efficiently.

Smaller wind turbines could generate around 50 KW of power, but today’s heavy-duty models can generate over 3,000 kilowatts (3 megawatts. Installing higher-capacity models with bigger blades reduces the need for more turbines in a wind farm.

Swept Area

The swept area is the total area covered by rotating wind turbine blades. For example, on a turbine with a 40-meter (131 ft.) blade, you can expect the swept meter to be about 5,000 square meters. At The same time, a wind turbine with a 28-meter (91.8 ft.) blade receiving the same amount of wind will only have around 2,500 square meters of swept area.

There are a lot of details to cover on the dimensions of a wind turbine, but this guide will do. The essential thing is to understand the basics to guide you on the engineering behind wind turbines. It is possible that soon we will see an increase in gigantic wind turbines being installed all over the place. Luckily, you will have something to reference when measuring their heights. The wind turbines listed here are the tallest we have so far, and if a bigger one is built sooner, be sure that we will talk about it at some point.