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.
Iberdrola, S.A. is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. It has around 40,000 employees and serves around 30 million customers.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd. is a UKAS accredited test and research centre focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands, UK. The centre provides developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in wave and tidal conditions.
In 2021 France reached a total of 18,676 megawatts (MW) installed wind power capacity placing France at that time as the world's seventh largest wind power nation by installed capacity, behind the United Kingdom and Brazil and ahead of Canada and Italy. According to the IEA the yearly wind production was 20.2 TWh in 2015, representing almost 23% of the 88.4 TWh from renewable sources in France during that year. Wind provided 4.3% of the country's electricity demand in 2015.
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Spain, Portugal, Japan, France and the United States' West Coast. Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution, provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes, and reach stronger and more consistent winds.
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.
Wind power in Belgium has seen significant advancements, starting with the generation of electricity from offshore wind farms in 2009. By 2020, the capacity of these offshore farms reached 2,262 megawatts (MW), matching the combined output of Belgium's largest nuclear reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3. Concurrently, the development of on-shore wind energy, which remained minimal until 2004, experienced significant growth, with installed capacity and production doubling annually from 96 MW in 2004 to 2,476.1 MW by 2021. The percentage of electricity demand met by wind grew to about 14.4% by 2020.
GE Wind is a division of GE Vernova. The company manufactures and sells wind turbines to the international market. In 2018, GE Wind was the fourth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world. Vic Abate is the CEO of GE Vernova’s Wind businesses.
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.
Walney Wind Farms are a group of offshore wind farms 9 miles (14 km) west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England, in the Irish Sea. The group, operated by Ørsted, consists of Walney Phase 1, Phase 2 and the Walney Extension. The extension has a capacity of 659 MW and it was the world's second largest offshore wind farm in 2018.
Wind power in New Jersey is in the early stages of development. New Jersey has just six wind turbines, all land based, 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.
The Vestas V164 is a three-bladed offshore wind turbine, produced by Vestas, with a nameplate capacity of up to 10 megawatts, a world record. Vestas revealed the V164's design in 2011 with the first prototype unit operated at Østerild in northern Denmark in January 2014. The first industrial units were installed in 2016 at Burbo Bank, off the west coast of the United Kingdom. By 2021, Vestas had produced 500 of the series.
The East Anglia Array is a proposed series of offshore wind farms located around 30 miles off the east coast of East Anglia, in the North Sea, England. It has begun with the currently operational East Anglia ONE, that has been developed in partnership by ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall. Up to six individual projects could be set up in the area with a maximum capacity of up to 7.2 GW. The first project, East Anglia ONE at 714 MW, received planning consent in June 2014 and contracts in April 2016. Offshore construction began in 2018 and the project was commissioned in July 2020. It is expected to cost £2.5 billion.
Wind power in Virginia is in the early stages of development. In March 2015, Virginia became the first state in the United States to receive a wind energy research lease to build and operate offshore wind turbines in federal waters. Virginia has no utility scale wind farms.
Wind power is a major industry in Taiwan. Taiwan has abundant wind resources however a lack of space on land means that most major developments are offshore.
Vineyard Wind 1 is an offshore wind farm under construction in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-designated Lease Area OCS-A 0520, about 13 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts. The array is designed to include 62 Haliade-X wind turbines manufactured by GE Offshore Wind with a nameplate capacity of 804 MW combined, equivalent to the annual power use of 400,000 homes. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved the project in 2019. Construction began on November 18, 2021. In October 2023, the first turbine was installed. Power from the first turbine started flowing into the ISO New England grid on January 2, 2024. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
Los Vientos Wind Farm is a 912 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Starr and Willacy counties in South Texas. It is the second largest wind farm in the United States behind the Alta Wind Energy Center in California.
The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) is an offshore wind energy project located about 43 km (27 mi) off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S. The initial phase, a two-turbine, 12-MW pilot project constructed in 2020, is the second utility scale offshore wind farm operating in the United States. Dominion Energy and Ørsted US Offshore Wind collaborated on the project, which is estimated to have cost $300 million and is expected to generate enough electricity to power up to 3,000 homes. It is the first utility scale wind farm serving Virginia and the first built in U.S. federal waters, in a wind lease area that covers about 2,135 acres.
Eneti, previously Scorpio Bulkers, is a Monaco-based company specializing in offshore wind farm construction and services. Headquartered in Monaco, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has Emanuele A. Lauro as its CEO.
Offshore wind power is in the early stages of development in the United States. In 2016, the United States Department of Energy estimated that the country has a gross resource potential of 10,800GW of offshore wind capacity, with a "technical" resource potential of 2,058GW. Offshore wind projects are under development in wind-rich areas of the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Pacific coast. The first commercial offshore wind farm, Block Island Wind Farm, began operation in 2016. As of 2017, about 30 projects totaling 24 gigawatts (GW) of potential installed capacity were being planned.
