 | ||
Port Burwell Wind Farm (formerly known as the Erie Shores Wind Farm) is a large wind farm near Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada. The facility stretches approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the west of the town, and 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to the southeast.
In 2004, Port Burwell was awarded a generation contract by the Government of Ontario as part of its renewable energy plan. This wind farm was officially opened on April 13, 2006.
The project comprises 66 GE 1.5 MW Wind Turbines (model 1.5 SLE). Each turbine has a blade diameter of 77 metres (253 ft), and is mounted on an 80-metre (260 ft) tubular tower.
An important measure of renewable energy generation is the capacity factor (actual output per year divided by the nameplate output). In 2009 the output was 232,296 megawatt-hours (836,270 GJ) and in 2010 the output was 227,778 megawatt-hours (820,000 GJ), so the capacity factor was 26.8% and 26.2% respectively. Published reports show that the developers were expecting the capacity factor to be higher – 28.6% to 32%.