This picture is interactive - to make it pan - click and drag it: left or right, up or down.
Use the [-] or [+] buttons at the bottom left of the picture to zoom out or in.
Use the link at the bottom of the page to launch the, larger full-screen version.
Altahullion is the largest wind farm in Ireland. It is just off the main Derry to Belfast road (the A6) near Dungiven.
At the time of this panorama it consisted of 20 "Bonus 1.3MW" turbines each with a capacity to generate 1.3 Mega-watts. (A full specification of these turbines is available as a PDF file)
An extension project is underway at present (commenced November 06) that will add a further 9 turbines. It is known as " Altahulion Phase II".
Each turbine has three 30m blades and is mounted on a tower 60m tall. Between them they generate enough electricity for 20,000 homes.
The panorama opens with a human figure to the left of the base of one of the towers. Click on the (-) button or use the Control key to zoom back and get an impression of the size of these windmills.
Altahullion Hill has traditionally been used as a source of energy. It is blanketed in peat bog. In the past the energy was collected in the form of peat turf, cut from the hill-top, left to dry for most of the summer, then taken home to be burnt on open fires through-out the winter. The segment of the panorama when looking into the sun, shows a turf-bank in the foreground with turf stacked along it.
The wind farm is operated by RES (Renewable Energy Systems). Their website says: "The public can visit the site by following the signs from the A6 Dungiven to Derry road. There is car parking, an information board and a special path up to the visitor turbine."
This is one panorama that is definitely worth viewing in full screen mode - see link below.