Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery to end users or its storage.
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity generation. Today, wind power is generated almost completely with wind turbines, generally grouped into wind farms and connected to the electrical grid.
MidAmerican Energy Company is an energy company based in Des Moines, Iowa. Its service area includes almost two-thirds of Iowa, as well as portions of Illinois, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its territory is wholly encompassed by the territory of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. Major cities in MidAmerican Energy's service territory are Des Moines, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Council Bluffs, Waterloo, Iowa City, and the Quad Cities.
Spain is one of the countries with the largest wind power capacity installed, with over 27 GW in 2020.
Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. As of 2012, renewable energy accounts for about half of new nameplate electrical capacity installed and costs are continuing to fall.
For solar power, South Asia has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and a high density of potential customers.
China is the world's leader in electricity production from renewable energy sources, with over triple the generation of the second-ranking country, the United States. China's renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuels and nuclear power capacity, and is expected to contribute 43 per cent of global renewable capacity growth. China's total renewable energy capacity exceeded 1,000 GW in 2021, accounting for 43.5 per cent of the country's total power generation capacity, 10.2 percentage points higher than in 2015. The country aims to have 80 per cent of its total energy mix come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, and achieve a combined 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. In 2023, it was reported that China was on track to reach 1,371 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2025, five years ahead of target due to new renewables installations smashing records.
China is the world leader in wind power generation, with the largest installed capacity of any nation and continued rapid growth in new wind facilities. With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind power resources: it is estimated China has about 2,380 gigawatts (GW) of exploitable capacity on land and 200GW on the sea. Wind power remained China's third-largest source of electricity at the end of 2021, accounting for 7.5% of total power generation.
Making up over 62% of the state's generated electricity in 2022, wind power is the largest source of electricity generation in Iowa. In 2020, over 34 billion kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind power. As of 2022, Iowa has over 12,200 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity with over 6,000 wind turbines, ranking 2nd and 3rd in the nation below Texas respectively.
China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd., abbreviated as CHNG or Huaneng Group, is one of the five largest state-owned electricity generation enterprises in China, administrated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. It engages in the investment, construction, operation and management of power generation assets and the production and sale of electricity. In 2012, the company was ranked 246th on the Fortune 500 list.
China Guodian Corporation is one of the five largest power producers in China, administrated by SASAC for the State Council. It is engaged in development, investment, construction, operation and management of power plants and power generation for electricity supply in Northern China, Northeast China, Central China, East China. Sichuan and Chongqing, Shandong, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Xinjiang, as well as in Burma. The installed capacity of company power plants is exceeding 100,000 MWe. On August 28, 2017, SASAC announced that China Guodian Corporation and Shenhua Group will be jointly restructured. Shenhua Group will become China Energy Investment Corporation and will absorb China Guodian Corporation.
China's electric power industry is the world's largest electricity producer, passing the United States in 2011 after rapid growth since the early 1990s. In 2021, China produced 8.5 petawatt-hour (Pwh) of electricity, approximately 30% of the world's electricity. In 2019, China had produced 7.3 petawatt-hour (PWh) of electricity, more than the next three countries combined.
Musselroe Wind Farm is a wind farm at Cape Portland, Tasmania, Australia. It was the third wind farm built in the state, following the Bluff Point and Studland Bay Wind Farms.
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., commonly known as Goldwind, is a Chinese multinational wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Beijing, China. Goldwind was a state-owned enterprise before 2007, with largest shareholders including Hexie Health Insurance, China Three Gorges Renewables Group, and the National Social Security Fund, state-controlled corporations holding almost 40% shares. Its founder, Wu Gang, is a Communist Party member and had a seat in the 12th National People's Congress.
China Wind Systems, Inc. is composed of two wholly owned subsidiaries, Wuxi Huayang Dye Machine Co., Ltd. and Wuxi Huayang Electrical Power Equipment Co., Ltd.. Wuxi Huayang Dye Machine Co., Ltd. is engaged in textile dyeing and manufacturing finishing machines. Wuxi Huayang Electric Power Equipment Co., Ltd. is involved in the manufacture of equipment for electrical generation. High precision forged rolled rings for use in the wind power industry and other industries are manufactured by the Wuxi Huayang Electric Power Equipment subsidiary. They also manufacture equipment used in the production of coal generated electricity.
Wind power in Indiana was limited to a few small water-pumping windmills on farms until 2008 with construction of Indiana's first utility-scale wind power facility, Goodland with a nameplate capacity of 130 MW. As of September 2017, Indiana had a total of 1897 MW of wind power capacity installed, ranking it 12th among U.S. states. Wind power was responsible for 4.8% of in-state electricity production in 2016.
China Power Clean Energy Development (CPNED), formerly China Power New Energy Development Company Limited (CPNE) and Oriental Investment, is a Chinese renewable energy company established in 2006 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It operates hydropower, wind, natural gas, solar, and waste-to-energy power plants.
Renewable energy in Pakistan is a relatively underdeveloped sector; however, in recent years, there has been more and more interest to explore renewable energy resources for the energy production. Around 10.57% of Pakistan’s total installed power generation capacity comes renewables. Most of Pakistan's renewable energy comes from hydroelectricity. As per the vision of the Prime Minister, there is the aim to “induct 20% of RE by the year 2025 and 30% of RE by the year 2030.”
The Taralga Wind Farm is a wind farm located near Taralga, New South Wales. Owned by Pacific Blue, it commenced operation in 2015.
