Caithness Shepherds Flat Wind Farm… | American Galvanizers Association

The Caithness Shepherds Flat Wind Farm is the world's largest wind farm project to date. The 845 megawatt wind generation facility with 338 wind turbines once completed, will sell 100 percent of the power generated to Southern California Edison through a 20-year fixed price power purchase agreements.

One instrumental product in the operation of these wind turbines are the heat exchangers built by Daws Manufacturing Company. General Electric Energy and Daws Manufacturing Company had to decide what type of corrosion protection system they were going to implement to protect these crucial heat exchangers. There were three factors they had to consider in their decision. The heat exchangers would be out in the open fields and would be subject to any type of weather conditions. The heat exchangers located at the base of the tower cannot be taken out of service without shutting down an entire generator, and the project required a minimum 20-year service life. General Electric Energy and Daws Manufacturing Company decided hot-dip galvanizing with its superior corrosion protection, estimated 75-year service life, and life-cycle cost was the choice for their project. Hot-dip galvanizing will give them corrosion protection for many decades at a cost effective initial cost, without having to worry about corrosion and incurring any cost or power generation problems from taking a generator out of service.

Caithness Shepherds Flat Wind Farm - Heat Exchangers

Details

Year Galvanized

2011

Award Class

Newly Complete

Award Sectors

Electrical, Utility & Communication

Industrial

Original Equipment Manufacturing

Environment

Rural

Location

Arlington, OR United States

Reasons for Galvanizing

Corrosion Performance, Life-Cycle Cost

Components Galvanized

The main structure of this unit is comprised of structural steel components (channels,angles,plate,tubing,flat bars). These are fabricated and welded together to make a large frame.