A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore.
The United Kingdom is one of the best locations for wind power in the world and is considered to be the best in Europe. Wind power contributed 20% of UK electricity generation in 2019, making up 54% of electricity generation from renewable sources. Polling of public opinion consistently shows strong support for wind power in the UK, with nearly three quarters of the population agreeing with its use, even for people living near onshore wind turbines. Wind power in the UK is a low cost generation mode which is still dropping in price and delivers a rapidly growing percentage of the electricity of the United Kingdom.
Wind power is one of the main renewable energy sources in Australia. In 2019, wind power accounted for 8.5% of Australia's total electricity demand and 35.4% of total renewable energy supply. As of December 2019, there was 6,279 megawatt (MW) of installed wind power capacity and a further 21,845 MW of capacity was proposed or committed to the electricity sector in Australia as of February 2020. At the end of 2019 there were 101 wind farms in Australia, most of which had turbines from 1.5 to 3 MW. In addition, 30 projects with a combined installed capacity of more than 5,500 MW are either under construction or committed to be built in 2020/21 having reached financial closure. Australian wind power to grid peaked at 4 GW in February 2019.
By year end 2015 Spain was the world's fifth biggest producer of wind power with 23,031 MW installed capacity, providing 48,118 GWh of power and 19% of the country's total electricity production in that year. In 2014, a record breaking year for renewable electricity production, wind power accounted for 20.2% of total electricity generation in Spain making it the second most important electricity source after nuclear power (22%) and ahead of coal power (16.5%). In earlier periods wind energy covered 16% of the demand in 2010, 13.8% in 2009 and 11.5% in 2008.
Wind power generation capacity in India has significantly increased in recent years. As of 30 September 2020, the total installed wind power capacity was 38.124 GW, the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. Wind power capacity is mainly spread across the Southern, Western and Northern regions.
The Thorntonbank Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm, 30 km (19 mi) off the Belgian coast, in water ranging from 12 to 27 metres deep.
Wind power in Ohio has a long history, and as of 2016, Ohio had 545 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale wind power installations installed, responsible for 1.1% of in-state electricity generated. Over 1000 MW more were under construction or pending approval. Some installations have become tourist attractions. There has been a sudden increase in generating capacity, as total wind power capacity in the state was just 9.7 MW in 2010. By 2019, there were 738 MW of capacity, which generated 1.71% of Ohio's electricity.
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 200 GW on the sea.
The Markbygden Wind Farm will be a series of interconnected wind farms in the Markbygden area west of Piteå, Norrbotten county in northern Sweden. The project is expected to be completed by 2022 and might have a capacity of up to 4,000 megawatts (MW), comprising up to 1,101 wind turbines. The project was initially co-developed by Svevind AB and wind turbine manufacturer Enercon.
New York ranked 11th in the United States at the end of 2013 for installed wind power capacity, with 1,722 MW installed. In 2016, wind power provided 2.94% of in state energy production. This increased to 3.66% in 2019.
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the use of wind farms constructed in bodies of water, usually in the ocean, to harvest wind energy to generate electricity. Higher wind speeds are available offshore compared to on land, so offshore wind power’s electricity generation is higher per amount of capacity installed, and NIMBY opposition to construction is usually much weaker.
Wind power in Belgium depends partially on regional governments and partially on the Belgian federal government. Wind energy producers in both the Flemish and Walloon regions get green certificates but not with the same conditions.
Meadow Lake Wind Farm is an 801.25 megawatt (MW) wind farm near Brookston and Chalmers, Indiana, spreading over portions of White, Jasper, and Benton Counties. It is owned and operated by EDP Renewables North America. The facility currently has six operational phases, with 414 turbines, and is a prominent feature on both sides of Interstate 65 in western Indiana.
As of 2016, Arizona has 268 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, producing 0.5% of in-state generated electricity.
The US state of Colorado has vast wind energy resources and the installed electricity capacity and generation from wind power in Colorado has been growing significantly in recent years. The growth has been sustained due to a combination of falling costs, continuing federal incentives, and the state's aggressive renewable portfolio standard that requires 30% of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to wind energy:
Renewable energy in Taiwan contributed to 8.7% of national electricity generation as of end of 2013. The total installed capacity of renewable energy in Taiwan by the end of 2013 was 3.76 GW.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a group of offshore wind farms under construction 125 to 290 kilometres off the east coast of Yorkshire, in the North Sea, England. It is being developed by the Forewind consortium. It is expected that the Dogger Bank development will consist of four offshore wind farms, each with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW, creating a combined capacity of 4.8 GW. Planning consent for the first phase of the project was granted by the UK government in February 2015, and consent for the second phase was granted in August 2015.
As of February 2020, there were 361 installed onshore turbines and 22 offshore turbines in operation with the total installed capacity of 845.2 MW.
The Murra Warra Wind Farm will be one of Australia's largest wind farms. Located on the plains of north-western Victoria, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the city of Horsham, it will consist of 99 wind turbines with a maximum tip height of 220m.
