Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Windpower forest proves bigger is not always better

By Steven Bushong | September 6, 2013

Tar Chalome, a vast wetland south of Bangkok, is known for crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and spicy seafood. Now, it will be known for a powerful contradiction of terms: the world’s biggest small wind farm.

More than two dozen towers rise from the wetland, each holding 10 small-wind turbines. Locals, struck by the complexity of the towers, say the project looks like a quivering forest, the turbines spinning like leaves on steel branches. They have built a temple on nearby land to pray for increased energy production and safety for wind technicians.

Worked toiled for over a year constructing this wind forest. Dozens of towers each support 10 Osiris 1.6 turbines.

Worked toiled for over a year constructing this wind forest. Dozens of towers each support 10 Osiris 1.6 turbines.

But why construct a small-wind forest? The project owner had tried larger turbines in the past, only to be disappointed by their output. The wind resource in Tar Chalome is light to medium at best. The idea for an array of small turbines struck a local contractor, but the project owner remained dubious.

To prove the concept, the contractor built a 100m tower with a single Osiris 1.6 turbine at the top. The small size of the 78-kg system is deceptive. Osiris 1.6 showed an estimated annual energy production up to 3,500 kWh with wind at 6 m/s.

Local constructed a temple near the wind farm to pray for high energy production and worker safety.

Local constructed a temple near the wind farm to pray for high energy production and worker safety.

A year of test data convinced the client that a small wind farm would work better than a single large turbine system, and the world’s biggest small wind farm was soon built.

The Osiris 1.6 Turbine

Rated capacity: 1.6 kW
Start-up wind speed: 2.4 m/s
Rated wind speed: 10.5 m/s
Survival wind speed: 50 m/s
Generator: Direct drive permanent magnet (NdFeB)
Weight: 78 kg
Rotor diameter: 3.2m
Yaw control: Passive
Grid tie: Programmable transformerless 220/240 VAC 50-60 HZ

 

 


Filed Under: Community wind, Towers
Tagged With: osiris
 

Related Articles Read More >

South Fork Wind’s first installed turbine delivers power to Long Island
Siemens Gamesa unveils wind turbine tower made with sustainable steel
Keystone Tower Systems begins production on first spiral-welded wind towers in Texas
New York planned location for country’s first offshore wind tower support manufacturer

Podcasts

Wind Spotlight: Looking back at a year of Thrive with ZF Wind Power
See More >

Windpower Engineering & Development Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Browse the most current issue of Windpower Engineering & Development and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading wind power engineering magazine today.

Windpower Engineering & Development
  • Wind Articles
  • Solar Power World
  • Subscribe to Windpower Engineering
  • About Us/Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising

Search Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe