Question 02 · Wind power engineering

Can wind pay for an island?

Orkney has some of the strongest winds in Europe: 10.6 m/s average at hub height. I developed a tailored plan that puts five Vestas V150-6.0 turbines at Quanterness, using WindPRO and GIS mapping to cover siting, noise, shadow flicker, visibility, transport logistics, and a 20-year community-owned business case.

RoleDeveloper-analyst (solo)

ToolsWindPRO · MS Project · Excel · Google Earth

ContextMSc module AE7201, Kingston University

Year2024

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The actual analysis, on the actual map.

These are not illustrations. They are the georeferenced WindPRO output layers from the study, exported from the project files. Toggle them over the real Quanterness site: predicted noise at 12 m/s, worst-case shadow flicker hours per year, and the zone of visual influence across the island.

5 × 6 MWVestas V150-6.0, 149.9 m hub height

137,381 MWhmodelled annual output after 2.5% wake loss

£32.5Mnet present value over the 20-year life

£432kannual community benefit fund

Wind you can bank on.

Siting begins with the resource: Weibull-fitted wind statistics, an energy rose dominated by westerlies, and steady speeds above the turbine’s 3 m/s cut-in. I selected the V150-6.0 by comparing power curves against the site’s wind distribution and weighing its 6 MW rating, 150 m rotor, and alternative hub-height options, not by catalogue preference.

Weibull distribution, energy rose and wind statistics — Weibull fit, energy rose, and frequency analysis, in WindPRO

Turbine power curve analysis — Power curve and Cp/Ct analysis for the V150-6.0

A turbine is easy. Getting it there isn’t.

The plan covers what desk studies usually skip: 73.7-metre blades shipped from Denmark to Kirkwall, specialist haulage under police escort, a new approved junction off the A965, access-road costing per turbine position, cable trenching, and grid connection, plus a three-year preconstruction programme with the critical path mapped in MS Project. A development strategy, not a turbine layout alone.

Turbine foundation under construction — Ribbed-beam foundation works

Specialist blade transport vehicle — Blade haulage: abnormal load logistics

Google Earth view of the site with photomontage turbines — The site with photomontaged turbines: visual impact, honestly shown

And the number that decides everything.

Twenty years of cash flows against £43.9M capital expenditure, under a Contract for Difference. The project breaks even at year 10–11 and finishes with a £32.5M net present value, with profits retained by the Orkney community that hosts it.