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...)
Cherry tree moving with the wind blowing about 22 m/sec (about 79 km/h or 49 mph)
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect). Within the tropics and subtropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In coastal areas the sea breeze/land breeze cycle can define local winds; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes can prevail.
Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed and direction, the forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect. Winds have various aspects: velocity (wind speed); the density of the gas involved; energy content, or wind energy. In meteorology, winds are often referred to according to their strength, and the direction from which the wind is blowing. The convention for directions refer to where the wind comes from; therefore, a 'western' or 'westerly' wind blows from the west to the east, a 'northern' wind blows south, and so on. This is sometimes counter-intuitive.
Short bursts of high speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute) are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, and hurricane. (Full article...)
Tjasker Ossenzijl The tjasker (West Frisian: jasker, German: Fluttermühle) is a small type of windmill used solely for drainage purposes. It is distinctive for its simple construction, featuring only a single inclined shaft that carries the sails on one end and an Archimedes' screw on the other, in this way avoiding the need for any gearing. The tjasker is commonly known as a typical Frisian windmill though it is also found in other Dutch provinces and in north Germany. (Full article...)
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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...)
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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...)
Like many other Maltese windmills, it has a round central tower surrounded by a number of rooms. The sails and milling machinery have been restored, as have the miller's living-quarters. The museum also contains a large collection of traditional tools, mostly for wood- and iron-working. (Full article...)
Data is primarily from the 4C Offshore's Global Offshore Wind Farm Map and Database. Tariff data is supplied by the Danish Energy Agency. 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 omitted for ease of reading. (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...)
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The rustic/original appearance of one of the windmills, on the eastern edge of Ponta Negra
Mountlucas Wind Farm in Co Offaly This is a list of wind farms in the Republic of Ireland. Locations of all the wind farms which have coordinates below, may be seen on a map together by clicking "Map of all coordinates using OpenStreetMap" at the right side of this page. (Full article...)
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The Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm As of 2013, there was an installed capacity of 2,599 megawatts (MW) of wind power in Romania, up from the 7 MW installed capacity in 2007. Until December 2010, Romania added around 440 MW to its installed wind capacity from two wind farms: Fântânele-Cogealac and the EDP Peștera. The Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm has been completed in 2012 and at the time was the largest in Europe.
Romania has a wind-power potential of around 14,000 MW, and an energy-generating capacity of 23 terawatt-hours. The country's wind power capacity that can be assimilated by the national transport grid is between 3,000 MW and 9,000 MW, while only in the last two years the total power of the requests for connecting to it was about 22.800 MW. The Dobrogea region, which consists of Constanța and Tulcea counties, has the second-highest wind potential in Europe. (Full article...)
Danish Smock mill from 1895 at Sønderho, Fanø, with fantail A fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and was perfected on mills around Leeds and Hull towards the end of the 18th century. Fantails are found on all types of traditional windmills and are especially useful where changes in wind direction are frequent. They are more common in England, Denmark and Germany than in other parts of Europe, and are little-known on windmills elsewhere except where English millwrighting traditions were in evidence.
The rotating fantail turns the cap of the windmill via a system of gearing to a toothed rack around the top of the mill tower, or to wheels running on the ground in the case of a post mill. It does so until the fantail sails are oriented parallel to the wind, whereby the wind can no longer move them. When the fantail is oriented parallel to the wind, the main sails are in the optimal perpendicular orientation and produce maximum power. (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...)
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 36The 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 37A 19th-century reconstruction of Heron's wind-powered organ (from Windmill)
Image 43Kiosk 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)
Image 47The 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 50Offshore 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 59An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (from Wind farm)
Image 60Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
Image 61Map of available wind power over the United States. Colour codes indicate wind power density class (from Wind farm)
Image 62Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
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The Persian horizontal windmill, the first practical windmill. (from Windmill)
Offshore Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs) at Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England (from Wind turbine)
Wind farm interference (in yellow circle) on radar map (from Wind farm)
The Hancock County wind energy center in Iowa (from Wind turbines on public display)
Workers inspect wind turbine blades (from Wind turbine)
The windmills at Kinderdijk in the village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Windmill)
Interior view, Pantigo windmill, East Hampton, New York Historic American Buildings Survey (from Windmill)
Thorntonbank Wind Farm, using 5 MW turbines REpower 5M in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium (from Wind turbine)
Cross section of a post mill (from Windmill)
Part of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, Oregon, United States with a turbine under construction (from Wind farm)
Oilmill De Zoeker, paintmill De Kat and paltrok sawmill De Gekroonde Poelenburg at the Zaanse Schans (from Windmill)
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)
Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen, Denmark. (from Wind farm)
Nacelle of a wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
Nashtifan wind turbines in Sistan, Iran (from Wind turbine)
Northern Iowa wind farm (from Wind farm)
Jhimpir Wind Farm, Pakistan (from Wind farm)
An isometric drawing of the machinery of the Beebe Windmill (from Windmill)
1813 technical drawing (from Windmill)
Development in size and power of wind turbines, 1990–2016 (from Wind turbine)
Technical drawing of a 1793 Dutch smock mill for land drainage (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)
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)
De Valk windmill in mourning position following the death of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1962 (from Windmill)
Gouda Wind Facility, South Africa. (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)
James Blyth's electricity-generating wind turbine, photographed in 1891 (from Wind turbine)
The Pubnico Wind Farm taken from Beach Point, Lower East Pubnico, Nova Scotia (from Wind farm)
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)
Roscoe Wind Farm An onshore wind farm in West Texas (from Wind farm)
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal Wind Turbine (from Wind turbines on public display)
The three primary types: VAWT Savonius, HAWT towered; VAWT Darrieus as they appear in operation (from Wind turbine)
Egbert Livensz van der Poel, Windmill Fire (17th century), National Museum in Kraków (from Windmill)
The Nordex N50 wind turbine and visitor centre of Lamma Winds in Hong Kong, China (from Wind turbine)
An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (from Wind farm)
Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
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)
A vertical axis Twisted Savonius type turbine. (from Wind turbine)
San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, California (from Wind farm)
Inside view of a wind turbine tower, showing the tendon cables (from Wind turbine)
Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position (from Wind turbine)
Hooper's Mill, Margate, Kent, an eighteenth-century European horizontal windmill (from Windmill)
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