First Urban Wind Turbine in Canada
In January 2003, DYWIDAG participated to the construction of the first wind turbine built to produce power for Toronto´s electrical grid. The $1.3 million turbine produces about 1,800 MWh of electricity annually for the city´s electrical grid, enough to light about 250 homes.
Context
The wind tower located near Band shell Park at the west end of the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, is 94-meter high, produces 750-kilowatt.
Solution
The foundation of the wind tower consists of 150m3 of good old-fashioned concrete and 6,000 kg tube anchor made of solid steel. The whole foundation is anchored to the ground by eight DYWIDAG Rock Anchors, 18 m long each, with a 7m bond length in the bedrock below. Hovering on top of the 30-story tower, a three-blade turbine, each blade 29 m long, spins at about 21 revolutions per minute.
It took four years and the overcoming of some sizeable hurdles, for the first wind turbine established in an urban downtown setting; it´s also the first green energy cooperative in Canada.
Going further
Its location in one of the biggest city in Canada, specifically at the waterfront and exhibition place that get about five million visitors a year, will help to educate people to know the importance of renewable energy and elevate the profile of wind energy technology across the continent.
Having already supplied into the largest wind farm in Canada a few years back, Le Nordais, with its 133 wind turbines and installed capacity of 100 MW, DYWIDAG is proud to be actively involved in the windmills market, especially midst increased interest of the North American and worldwide community in green, renewable energies. Considering the forces of wind, rain and snow acting on the wind turbine special construction requirements for foundation construction have to be met. DYWIDAG offers many years of experience and optimal solutions in this field.