Wind power or wind energy is the use of wind to provide the mechanical power through wind turbines to turn electric generators and traditionally to do other work, like milling or pumping. Wind power is a sustainable and renewable energy, and has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels.
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 Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of 3,500 metres (11,480 ft). It is located in Nyandarua County, west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator. The mountain range is called Nyandarua among the Agikuyu people in whose territory this forest and mountain range is located. The name Nyandarua comes from the Kikuyu word rwandarua meaning a drying hide, due to the distinctive fold of its silhouette.
Wind power in Scotland is the fastest-growing renewable energy technology, with 8423 MW of installed wind power capacity as of December 2018. This included 7800 MW from onshore wind in Scotland and 623 MW of offshore wind generators.
The developing nations of Africa are popular locations for the application of renewable energy technology. Currently, many nations already have small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation providing energy to urban and rural populations. These types of energy production are especially useful in remote locations because of the excessive cost of transporting electricity from large-scale power plants. The applications of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems that face Africans every day, especially if done in a sustainable manner that prioritizes human rights.
The Silverton Wind Farm is a 199 megawatt wind farm situated on the Barrier Ranges in New South Wales, built for AGL Energy by CATCON and General Electric.
Norfund is a private equity company established by the Norwegian Storting (parliament) in 1997 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fund receives its investment capital from the state budget. Its head office is located in Oslo with local offices in Thailand, Costa Rica, Kenya, Mozambique and Ghana.
Community wind projects are locally owned by farmers, investors, businesses, schools, utilities, or other public or private entities who utilize wind energy to support and reduce energy costs to the local community. The key feature is that local community members have a significant, direct financial stake in the project beyond land lease payments and tax revenue. Projects may be used for on-site power or to generate wholesale power for sale, usually on a commercial-scale greater than 100 kW.
The Hepburn Wind Project is a wind farm built and owned by Hepburn Wind, a community co-operative, and supported by the Victorian Government. The location of the project is Leonards Hill, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Daylesford, Victoria, north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. It comprises two individual 2.05 MW wind turbines supplied by REpower System AG which are projected to produce enough energy for 2,300 households, almost as many houses are in the twin-towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs.
Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind is an offshore wind energy development group that is affiliated with Ørsted, a Danish firm. It is joint headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2019, it was involved in some of the largest offshore wind farm projects in the United States.
Wind power in the Netherlands reached an installed capacity of 4,341 MW by year end 2017, 1,118 MW of which were based offshore. The 2,294 turbines sited in the Netherlands by the end of 2017 provided the country with 9% of its electricity demand during the year, a figure that is growing but somewhat below the average of 11.6% that wind power provides across the whole of the EU’s electricity consumption. 2015 was a record year for new installations in the Netherlands with 586 MW added of which 180 MW were offshore.
Renewable energy in Morocco represented 0.4% of the national energy balance and nearly 10% of electricity production in 2007. Renewable energy is supported by strong hydropower sources and the newly installed wind energy parks. Morocco plans a $13 billion expansion of wind, solar and hydroelectric power generation capacity and associated infrastructure that should see the country get 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The Moroccan government is keen on increasing renewable energy production, as Morocco's January–September oil bill reached about USD 1.4 billion in subsidies in 2009, registering a fall of 57.9% compared to 2008.
The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm now known as Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project, is a wind farm close to the Beatrice oil field in the Moray Firth, part of the North Sea 13 km off the north east coast of Scotland.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the Clean Energy and Climate Plan had a goal of reducing 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions levels by 25% by 2020. Current goals include installing 3,500 MW of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However as Q1 2020 the state had had only 119 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production, with no new turbines under construction. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project, which are still awaiting final federal regulatory approval as of April 2020.
The Mampuri Wind Farms are a set of three wind farms located near the Lakvijaya Power Station, on the Kalpitiya peninsula, in Mampuri, Puttalam District, Sri Lanka. The wind farms, referred to as Mampuri-I, Mampuri-II, and Mampuri-III, was built successively, and consists of eighteen Suzlon wind turbines ranging from 1.25 MW to 2.10 MW. Mampuri-I was commissioned on 22 March 2010, and was the first wind farm in the country to reach the 10 MW installed capacity threshold. As the government only allows projects up to 10 MW, the three wind farms are registered under three different company names, namely Senok Wind Power, Senok Wind Energy, and Senok Wind Resource.
Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is the single largest private investment in Kenya’s history. The wind farm covers 160 square kilometres and is located in Loiyangalani District, in Marsabit County, approximately 545 kilometres (339 mi), by road, north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.
The Beatrice Oil Field is a small oilfield consisting of 3 platforms located 24 km off the north east coast of Scotland. It began operations in 1980 with the field finally being decommissioned in 2017.
Envision Energy headquartered in Shanghai provides wind turbines, energy management software, and energy technology services.
Africa50 is an infrastructure investment platform that was founded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African states.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S is an investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments, particularly wind power.
