physics

Novar Wind Farm

Novar Wind Farm is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Novar Wind Farm rather than just read about it. In short: Novar Wind Farm is a 50 turbine, 53.8 megawatt wind farm located in the Scottish Highlands. Constructed in 1997, Novar was of the earlier developments of Scottish on-shore wind generation.

Key takeaways

Novar Wind Farm belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Novar Wind Farm to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Novar Wind Farm from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Novar Wind Farm is a 50 turbine, 53.8 megawatt wind farm located in the Scottish Highlands. Constructed in 1997, Novar was of the earlier developments of Scottish on-shore wind generation. It provided a significant contribution to the local economy during construction and through its Community Benefit Fund. In 2010 an additional 16 turbines were constructed taking the yearly generation capacity to 53.8 megawatts.

Location Novar Wind Farm is made of two sites located on the Novar estate, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of the village of Evanton and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of the town of Alness. 6 miles (9.7 km) to the south-west lies the Munro Ben Wyvis which is a National Nature Reserve and is a height of 1,046 m (3,432 ft). The land is predominately heath land covered in heather but is also used for grazing for sheep. Gravel access roads were built to allow the construction and maintenance of the site.

Construction Novar A was built and commissioned by Npower (United Kingdom) in 1997 with x34 500 kW Bonus (Siemens) turbines being connected to National Grid (Great Britain). Between 1997 and 2010 ownership changed hands several times until Ventient Energy took it on. In 2010, RWE began construction to expand the site with the addition of 16 larger 2,300 kW Enercon turbines. In September 2012, The Energy Minister for the Scottish Government, Fergus Ewing officially opened the new site. This increased the generating capacity from 17 megawatts to 53.8 megawatts.

Community Benefit Fund As with many wind farms in Scotland, a Community Benefit Fund was set up. The fund is a contract whereby the operator agrees to pay a fixed amount to local communities per MWh generated. In this case RWE Innogy who currently operate Novar Wind Farms have agreed to pay £2000 for every megawatt Novar generates. The money is split between the local community councils of Kiltearn, Ardross, and Alness who then decide how the funds are spent. Often the funds go to local schools for items such as books and toys, or towards helping community groups with funding.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Novar Wind Farm

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Novar Wind Farm claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Novar Wind Farm before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Novar Wind Farm ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Novar Wind Farm

In research: Novar Wind Farm appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Novar Wind Farm in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Novar Wind Farm is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electrical grid, Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Renewable energy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Novar Wind Farm outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Novar Wind Farm in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Novar Wind Farm means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Novar Wind Farm out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Novar Wind Farm in simple terms?

Novar Wind Farm is a 50 turbine, 53.8 megawatt wind farm located in the Scottish Highlands. Constructed in 1997, Novar was of the earlier developments of Scottish on-shore wind generation.

Why does Novar Wind Farm matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Novar Wind Farm?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Novar Wind Farm.