The process through which the wind creates mechanical or electrical power is referred to as wind energy and wind power, respectively. Clean, renewable energy may be generated via wind power. Wind turbines are the primary source of wind electricity.
Blades on a wind turbine spin when they are hit by wind. It is possible to employ a smaller generator by using a shaft and gearing to speed up the spinning of the turbine’s blades, which in turn enables a smaller generator to be used. This generates power.
Wind turbines may be erected on land or in the open ocean, depending on the size of the area. Horizontal-axis turbines & vertical-axis turbines are two kinds of contemporary wind turbines. The most popular wind turbine has three upwind blades on a horizontal axis. It is similar to windmills.
However, horizontal turbines are much bigger and more contemporary. Vertical-axis turbines come in various shapes and sizes, including an eggbeater design that resembles a whisk. Because of its omnidirectional nature, vertical-axis wind turbines don’t need any special adjusting to face the direction of the wind.
There are many different sizes of wind turbines. For smaller commercial and industrial projects and domestic and agricultural purposes, single, compact turbines are often employed. They normally produce less than 100 kilowatts.
Typically, utility-scale turbines may produce between 100 kilowatts to several megawatts. Many of these are clustered together into wind farms. The tallest and usually higher than the Statue of Liberty, offshore wind turbines come in at a third size.
Energy may be generated from strong ocean winds using offshore wind turbines. Modern wind turbines begin producing power at six to nine miles per hour. The cut-in speed is what we’re talking about.
The turbines are turned down during high winds to protect their mechanical components from overheating. Modern wind turbines can provide useful power 90% of the time for a year.
The World’s Wind Power
Since 2000, the overall installed capacity of wind power to generate energy has grown dramatically. The overall capacity was 651 gigawatts as of the end of 2019. Wind energy accounted for 4.8% of global electricity consumption in 2018.
More than half of the world’s nations utilize wind power in some capacity for commercial purposes. There are significant wind power penetration levels in seven European nations, with Denmark accounting for 41% of output, Ireland for 28%, Portugal for 24%, Germany for 21%, and Spain for 19%.
In 2019, China generated 236,402 megawatts, or 36.3 percent of global wind power capacity, making it the world’s greatest wind power generator.
In 2019, the United States generated 105,466 megawatts of wind power, making it the second-largest wind power generator. Over half of the world’s total wind power produced energy came from China and the United States.
Wind power is a major source of energy in several countries (2019):
- China (236,402 MW)
- United States (105,466 MW)
- India (37,506 MW)
- France (16,643 MW)
- Brazil (15,452 MW)
- Canada (13,413 MW)
- Sweden (8,804 MW)
- Turkey (8,056 MW)
- Mexico (6,215 MW)
- Australia (6,199 MW)
Also See: What Countries Have Tornadoes? 2022
Country | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | 145104 | 168690 | 188232 | 211392 | 236402 |
United States | 74472 | 82183 | 89077 | 96665 | 105466 |
India | 27151 | 28665 | 32848 | 35129 | 37506 |
France | 10358 | 12065 | 13759 | 15309 | 16643 |
Brazil | 8715 | 10740 | 12763 | 14707 | 15452 |
Canada | 11205 | 11898 | 12239 | 12816 | 13413 |
Sweden | 6025 | 6519 | 6691 | 7407 | 8804 |
Turkey | 4718 | 6101 | 6516 | 7369 | 8056 |
Mexico | 3073 | 3527 | 4005 | 4935 | 6215 |
Australia | 4187 | 4327 | 4557 | 5362 | 6199 |
Venezuela | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | |
Latvia | 62 | 66 | 66 | 66 | |
Cape Verde | 24 | 76 | 76 | 76 | |
Luxembourg | 58 | 100 | 120 | 120 | |
Mongolia | 50 | 50 | 100 | 155 | |
Cyprus | 158 | 158 | 158 | 158 | |
Iran | 129 | 134 | 191 | 282 | |
Jordan | 119 | 119 | 119 | 285 | |
Estonia | 303 | 310 | 310 | 310 | |
Czech Republic | 281 | 281 | 308 | 317 | |
Hungary | 329 | 329 | 329 | 329 | |
Sri Lanka | 272 | 343 | 345 | 367 | |
Peru | 148 | 243 | 243 | 375 | |
Costa Rica | 268 | 319 | 378 | 408 | |
Philippines | 216 | 427 | 427 | 427 | |
Lithuania | 315 | 493 | 493 | 439 | |
Tunisia | 245 | 358 | 248 | 449 | |
Panama | 270 | 270 | 419 | 491 | |
Ukraine | 514 | 526 | 593 | 533 | |
Honduras | 176 | 180 | 225 | 578 | |
Croatia | 387 | 422 | 613 | 583 | |
Nicaragua | 186 | 186 | 562 | 635 | |
New Zealand | 623 | 623 | 623 | 689 | |
Bulgaria | 691 | 691 | 691 | 691 | |
Argentina | 204 | 204 | 228 | 722 | |
Thailand | 223 | 430 | 648 | 778 | |
Ethiopia | 324 | 356 | 526 | 782 | |
Pakistan | 255 | 591 | 792 | 1189 | |
Egypt | 610 | 810 | 810 | 1190 | |
Morocco | 787 | 787 | 787 | 1207 | |
South Korea | 852 | 1089 | 1136 | 1302 | |
Uruguay | 845 | 1210 | 1505 | 1516 | |
Chile | 933 | 1424 | 1540 | 1621 | |
Norway | 838 | 838 | 1162 | 1675 | |
Taiwan | 1493 | 1501 | 1525 | 1723 | |
Finland | 1005 | 1539 | 2113 | 2041 | |
South Africa | 1053 | 1471 | 2094 | 2085 | |
Greece | 2152 | 2374 | 2651 | 2844 | |
Romania | 2976 | 3028 | 3029 | 3029 | |
Austria | 2412 | 2632 | 2828 | 3045 | |
Belgium | 2229 | 2386 | 2843 | 3360 | |
Ireland | 2486 | 2830 | 3127 | 3564 | |
Japan | 3038 | 3234 | 3400 | 3661 | |
Netherlands | 3431 | 4328 | 4341 | 4471 | |
Portugal | 5079 | 5316 | 5316 | 5380 | |
Denmark | 5063 | 5227 | 5476 | 5758 | |
Poland | 5100 | 5782 | 6397 | 5864 | |
Italy | 8958 | 9257 | 9479 | 9958 | |
United Kingdom | 13603 | 15030 | 18872 | 20970 | |
Spain | 23025 | 23075 | 23170 | 23494 | |
Germany | 44947 | 50019 | 56132 | 59311 |