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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.
The Scroby Sands Wind Farm is a wind farm located on the Scroby Sands sandbank in the North Sea, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) off the coast of Great Yarmouth in eastern England, United Kingdom. It was commissioned in March 2004 by Powergen Renewables Offshore, a division of E.ON UK. It has a nameplate capacity of 60 megawatts and is able to produce power to supply 41,000 households. Between 2005 and 2010, its capacity factor was between 26 and 32%. Its levelised cost has been estimated at £105/MWh.
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.
Windy Hill Wind Farm is a wind power station near Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia. It has 20 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 12 MW of electricity, providing enough power for about 3,500 homes. The cost of the project was A$20 million. It was the second wind farm to be constructed in Queensland after the 0.45Mw station on Thursday Island (1997).
Wind power became a significant energy source within South Australia over the first two decades of the 21st century. In 2015, there was an installed capacity of 1,475 MW, which accounted for 34% of electricity production in the state. This accounted for 35% of Australia's installed wind power capacity. In 2021, there was an installed capacity of 2052.95 MW, which accounted for 42.1% of the electricity production in the state in 2020.
Wind power is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly in the United States over the last several years. From January through December 2022, 434.8 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 10.25% of electricity in the United States. The average wind turbine generates enough electricity in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source in the U.S.
Wind power generation capacity in India has significantly increased in recent years. As of 31 December 2023, the total installed wind power capacity was 44.736 gigawatts (GW), the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. Wind power capacity is mainly spread across the southern, western, and northwestern states.
The Hallett Wind Farm is the collective name for four wind farms near the town of Hallett, South Australia. They are owned and operated by AGL Energy.
Wind power is the fastest-growing renewable energy technology in Scotland, with 11,482 megawatts (MW) of installed wind power capacity by Q1 2023. This included 9,316 MW from onshore wind in Scotland and 2,166 MW of offshore wind generators.
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of December 2020, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. As of 2020, hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. Wind turbines are an increasingly important source of intermittent renewable energy, and are used in many countries to lower energy costs and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. One study claimed that, as of 2009, wind had the "lowest relative greenhouse gas emissions, the least water consumption demands and the most favorable social impacts" compared to photovoltaic, hydro, geothermal, coal and gas energy sources.
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of capacity installed. Offshore wind farms are also less controversial than those on land, as they have less impact on people and the landscape.
As of November 2023, wind power in the Netherlands has an installed capacity of 11,602 MW, 40.9% of which is based offshore. In 2022, the wind turbines provided the country with 18.37% of its electricity demand during the year. Windmills have historically played a major part in the Netherlands by providing an alternative to water driven mills.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore, as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the states's 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 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However, as of Q4 2021 the state had only 120 MW of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project. Construction began on the Vineyard Wind 1 project on November 18, 2021, after a long fight for approval. Commonwealth Wind was selected for development in 2021, but the developer has attempted to cancel the project due to increased costs. There are eight projects planned for off the southern coast of Massachusetts, though some will deliver power to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.
Wind power in New Jersey is in the early stages of development. New Jersey has just six wind turbines, but the state has plans to develop several major offshore wind projects on the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern Jersey Shore. Legislation has been enacted to support the industry through economic incentives and to permit wind turbines on existing piers.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a group of offshore wind farms under construction 130 to 200 kilometres off the east coast of Yorkshire, England in the North Sea. It is considered to be the world's largest offshore windfarm. It was developed by the Forewind consortium, with three phases envisioned - first phase, second phase and third phase. In 2015, the third phase was abandoned, while the first and second phases were granted consent. It was initially 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. As of 2023, a total of 277 turbines are expected to be built and produce a capacity of 3.6 GW, enough to power 6 million homes.
Hornsea Wind Farm is a Round 3 wind farm which began construction in 2018. Sited in the North Sea 120 km (75 mi) off the east coast of England, the eventual wind farm group is planned to have a total capacity of up to 6 gigawatt (GW).
References
- ↑ "Wind energy" . Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ↑ "Wind farm name: Calandawind" . Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ↑ "Wind farm name: Saint-Gothard" . Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ↑ "Wind Atlas of Switzerland". Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE. Retrieved 4 June 2020.