Farms: Europe's highest wind farm opens in Switzerland

Europe's highest wind farm opened near the Nufenen Pass in Gries, Switzerland on Friday (September 30) at nearly 2,500m above sea level. SwissWinds, a greenfield start-up which specialises in developing wind parks in mountainous regions, erected three wind turbines, to add to the original turbine they had previously installed as a pilot. The three new Enercon E92 turbines, brought to Switzerland from Germany, are 85 metres high with a rotor diameter of 92 metres. The energy they produce is injected into a grid using a new type of transformer, which powers not only the wind farm but also a hydro-electric power station next to Lake Griessee. The wind farm is expected to produce up to 10 gigawatts (GW) per year, which should produce enough energy to supply around 2,850 households. SwissWinds say the pilot turbine showed 60 percent of power production happens during the winter - the same time of the year when energy consumption is at its highest