Wind turbine

This article is about wind-powered electrical generators. For wind-powered machinery used to grind grain or pump water, see Windmill and Windpump.

Thorntonbank Wind Farm, using 5 MW turbines REpower 5M in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium

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.[1] 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.[2]

Smaller wind turbines are used for applications such as battery charging and remote devices such as traffic warning signs. Larger turbines can contribute to a domestic power supply while selling unused power back to the utility supplier via the electrical grid.[3]

Wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, with either horizontal or vertical axes, though horizontal is most common.[4]

  1. ^ "World wind capacity at 650,8 GW, Corona crisis will slow down markets in 2020, renewables to be core of economic stimulus programmes" (Press release). WWEA. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021. Wind power capacity worldwide reaches 650,8 GW, 59,7 GW added in 2019
  2. ^ Evans, Annette; Strezov, Vladimir; Evans, Tim (June 2009). "Assessment of sustainability indicators for renewable energy technologies". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 13 (5): 1082–1088. Bibcode:2009RSERv..13.1082E. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.03.008. ISSN 1364-0321.
  3. ^ "Installing and Maintaining a Small Wind Electric System". Energy.gov. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  4. ^ Righter, Robert W. (2011). Windfall: wind energy in America today. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-4192-3.