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.
In 2022, wind supplied over 2000 TWh of electricity, which was over 7% of world electricity and about 2% of world energy. With about 100 GW added during 2021, mostly in China and the United States, global installed wind power capacity exceeded 800 GW. To help meet the Paris Agreement goals to limit climate change, analysts say it should expand much faster - by over 1% of electricity generation per year. (Full article...)
The Altamont Pass wind farm is located in the Altamont Pass of the Diablo Range in Northern California. It is one of the earliest wind farms in the United States. The first wind turbines were placed on the Altamont in the early 1980s by Fayette Manufacturing Corporation on land owned by cattle rancher Joe Jess. The wind farm is composed of 4930 relatively small wind turbines of various types, making it at one time the largest wind farm in the world in terms of capacity. Altamont Pass is still one of the largest concentration of wind turbines in the world, with a capacity of 576 megawatts (MW), producing about 125 MW on average and 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) yearly. They were installed after the 1970s energy crisis in response to favorable tax policies for investors. (Full article...)
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. (Full article...)
Dobson's Mill was a working tower windmill for grinding wheat and corn. It stands in the High Street in the town of Burgh le Marsh, near Skegness in Lincolnshire, England. The mill was, prior to damage by Storm Ciara on 9 February 2020, open to the public as a tourist attraction and is a Grade I listed building. The mill site also houses the Burgh-le-Marsh Heritage Centre.
The windmill was built and fitted out by Sam Oxley, an Alford millwright, in the early 1800s for the Jessop family, who baked bread on the same site. It was completed by 1844. Dobson was the name of the last miller. (Full article...)
As of 2016, there were over 160 operational wind farms in Lithuania, but the majority of them consisted of small farms generating less than 2 MW. (Full article...)
This information is gathered from multiple Internet sources, and commercial sources. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm and is usually related to a shoal or the name of the nearest town on shore. The "wind farm" part is implied and hence removed for clarity. (Full article...)
North Steads Wind Farm from Druridge Bay This is a list of some onshore wind farms (more than 1 turbine) in the UK. This information is gathered from multiple Internet sources, primarily the UK Wind Energy Database from RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) and The Wind Power's database. There are many operational wind farms missing from the list, such as Scotland's 522 MW Clyde Wind Farm and the 68 MW Keadby Wind Farm in North Lincolnshire, England's largest onshore wind farm. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm and is usually related to the name of the physical location, e.g. hill, moor, fell, down etc. or the name of the agricultural farm for the smaller installations on property owned by farmers. The "wind farm" part is implied and hence removed for clarity in most cases. Listings here are restricted to wind farms with 12 turbines or more; for a more comprehensive list, please see the individual country articles. (Full article...)
It includes three buildings (a house built c.1928, a barn, and a smokehouse/cellar) and an Aermotorwindmill. The house is built of structural hollow clay tile, also known as structural terra cotta. (Full article...)
The Xarolla Windmill at Żurrieq, Malta is one of the windmills constructed by the Order of St. John in the villages and towns of Malta. It was built in the 18th century and is presently one of the most preserved windmills in Malta. The windmill is an agri-tourism attraction and is found in a complex of agricultural buildings such as a farmhouse, a chapel, catacombs and others. The windmill is also used as an art studio.
In 1674 Grand MasterNicolas Cotoner built five windmills around Malta, one of which was tax-Xarolla. Tax-Xarolla Windmill was built by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena in 1724. Sometimes after 1998, this was restored to its original working order. It is now the only functioning windmill on the islands of Malta. This is a valuable witness of local culture and heritage; it still has parts of the original mechanisms and can still grind the wheat. In the year 2000, this building was passed over to be administered by the Żurrieq Local Council and is intended to serve also as a cultural centre. The sails were extensively damaged in a gale on 18 March 2022. (Full article...)
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Brill windmill, a 17th-century post mill in Buckinghamshire The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These are struts that steady the central post.
The body of the windmill can be turned around the central post to bring the sails into the wind. All post mills have an arm projecting from them on the side opposite the sails and reaching down to near ground level. With some, as at Saxtead Green, the arm carries a fantail to turn the mill automatically. With the others the arm serves to rotate the mill into the wind by hand. (Full article...)
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Eskom Nation Grid Production By Source in April 2023
Most power stations in South Africa are owned and operated by the state owned enterprise, Eskom. These plants account for 80% of all the electricity produced in South Africa and 45% of all electricity produced on the African continent. In terms of share of GDP in 2012, South Africa was the 4th largest investor in renewable power in the world after Uruguay, Mauritius and Costa Rica. (Full article...)
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The installed electrical capacity and production of Sri Lanka by sources, from 2000 to 2018 Sri Lanka's electricity demand is currently met by nine thermal power stations, fifteen large hydroelectric power stations, and fifteen wind farms, with a smaller share from small hydro facilities and other renewables such as solar. Most hydroelectric and thermal/fossil fuel–based power stations in the country are owned and/or operated by the government via the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), while the renewable energy sector consists mostly of privately run plants operating on a power purchase agreement with the CEB.
Per CEB's 2016 generation report released in mid-2017, the country has a total combined installed generation capacity of 4,017 megawatts (MW), of which 2,115 MW (52.65%) was from thermal (900 MW/22.40% from coal and 1,215 MW/30.25% from fuel oil), 1,726 MW (42.97%) from hydroelectricity, and the remaining 176 MW (4.38%) from other renewable sources such as wind, biomass, and solar. These generation sources produced a total of 14,149 GWh of electricity during that year, of which 9,508 GWh (67.20%), 4,220 GWh (29.83%), and 421 GWh (2.98%) was from thermal, hydro, and other renewables, respectively. (Full article...)
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This is a list of wind farms in Australia, with a generating capacity of more than 50 MW, which are operating, under construction, or for which planning approval has been received. (Full article...)
China has the world's largest capacity of offshore wind power, with 25 GW operational as of mid 2022. Offshore wind in China is growing rapidly, with 16.9 GW added during 2021. (Full article...)
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There are 19 operational wind farms in Latvia with capacity above 0.25 MW and 18 wind farms with capacity below 0.25 MW. (Full article...)
Joseph Hall (1804-21 August 1871) and William Hoad purchased thirty hectares of farm land located on Metcalfe Road, Green Hill, at the original Crown sales in 1855. The following year they erected the windmill, using bluestone quarried on their property. (Full article...)
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, by tradition specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but in some parts of the English-speaking world, the term has also been extended to encompass windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications. The term wind engine is also sometimes used to describe such devices. (Full article...)
Image 6The rotor of a gearless wind turbine being set. This particular turbine was prefabricated in Germany, before being shipped to the U.S. for assembly. (from Wind turbine)
Image 8The first automatically operated wind turbine, built in Cleveland in 1887 by Charles F. Brush. It was 60 feet (18 m) tall, weighed 4 tons (3.6 metric tonnes) and powered a 12 kW generator. (from Wind turbine)
Image 15Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
Image 22A wind farm in a mountainous area in Galicia, Spain (from Wind farm)
Image 23Offshore windfarms, including floating windfarms, provide a small but growing fraction of total windfarm power generation. Such power generation capacity must grow substantially to help meet the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 pathway to combat climate change. (from Wind farm)
Image 24The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world, with a target capacity of 20,000 MW by 2020. (from Wind farm)
Image 25Inside view of a wind turbine tower, showing the tendon cables (from Wind turbine)
Image 29An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (from Wind farm)
Image 30Kiosk at the base of the Lamma WindsNordex N50/800kW wind turbine on Lamma Island with displays showing current power output and cumulative energy produced. (from Wind turbines on public display)
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. (Full article...)
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Hooper's Mill, Margate, Kent, an eighteenth-century European horizontal windmill (from Windmill)
Wind farm interference (in yellow circle) on radar map (from Wind farm)
Jhimpir Wind Farm, Pakistan (from Wind farm)
The rotor of a gearless wind turbine being set. This particular turbine was prefabricated in Germany, before being shipped to the U.S. for assembly. (from Wind turbine)
Egbert Livensz van der Poel, Windmill Fire (17th century), National Museum in Kraków (from Windmill)
The first automatically operated wind turbine, built in Cleveland in 1887 by Charles F. Brush. It was 60 feet (18 m) tall, weighed 4 tons (3.6 metric tonnes) and powered a 12 kW generator. (from Wind turbine)
Part of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, Oregon, United States with a turbine under construction (from Wind farm)
The Nordex N50 wind turbine and visitor centre of Lamma Winds in Hong Kong, China (from Wind turbine)
Cross section of a post mill (from Windmill)
A small Quietrevolution QR5 Gorlov type vertical axis wind turbine in Bristol, England. Measuring 3 m in diameter and 5 m high, it has a nameplate rating of 6.5 kW to the grid. (from Wind turbine)
Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
Thorntonbank Wind Farm, using 5 MW turbines REpower 5M in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium (from Wind turbine)
Gouda Wind Facility, South Africa. (from Wind farm)
The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world, with a target capacity of 20,000 MW by 2020. (from Wind farm)
Inside view of a wind turbine tower, showing the tendon cables (from Wind turbine)
The Hancock County wind energy center in Iowa (from Wind turbines on public display)
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal Wind Turbine (from Wind turbines on public display)
Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen, Denmark. (from Wind farm)
An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (from Wind farm)
Kiosk at the base of the Lamma Winds Nordex N50/800kW wind turbine on Lamma Island with displays showing current power output and cumulative energy produced. (from Wind turbines on public display)
The Pubnico Wind Farm taken from Beach Point, Lower East Pubnico, Nova Scotia (from Wind farm)
Northern Iowa wind farm (from Wind farm)
Workers inspect wind turbine blades. (from Wind turbine)
Development in size and power of wind turbines, 1990–2016 (from Wind turbine)
An isometric drawing of the machinery of the Beebe Windmill (from Windmill)
Oilmill De Zoeker, paintmill De Kat and paltrok sawmill De Gekroonde Poelenburg at the Zaanse Schans (from Windmill)
Map of available wind power over the United States. Colour codes indicate wind power density class (from Wind farm)
Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
Roscoe Wind Farm An onshore wind farm in West Texas (from Wind farm)
De Valk windmill in mourning position following the death of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1962 (from Windmill)
San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, California (from Wind farm)
Technical drawing of a 1793 Dutch smock mill for land drainage (from Windmill)
A vertical axis Twisted Savonius type turbine. (from Wind turbine)
Interior view, Pantigo windmill, East Hampton, New York Historic American Buildings Survey (from Windmill)
1813 technical drawing (from Windmill)
The windmills at Kinderdijk in the village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Windmill)
Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position (from Wind turbine)
Nacelle of a wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
Offshore Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs) at Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England (from Wind turbine)
Nashtifan wind turbines in Sistan, Iran (from Wind turbine)
The Persian horizontal windmill, the first practical windmill. (from Windmill)
The three primary types: VAWT Savonius, HAWT towered; VAWT Darrieus as they appear in operation (from Wind turbine)
James Blyth's electricity-generating wind turbine, photographed in 1891 (from Wind turbine)
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