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...)
Plan of the wind turbine for power generation by Josef Friedlaender before the electrical exhibition in the Vienna Prater (Rotunde) in 1883.
Wind power has been used as long as humans have put sails into the wind. Wind-powered machines used to grind grain and pump water — the windmill and wind pump — were developed in what is now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan by the 9th century. Wind power was widely available and not confined to the banks of fast-flowing streams, or later, requiring sources of fuel. Wind-powered pumps drained the polders of the Netherlands, and in arid regions such as the American midwest or the Australian outback, wind pumps provided water for livestock and steam engines.
With the development of electric power, wind power found new applications in lighting buildings remote from centrally generated power. Throughout the 20th century, parallel paths developed small wind plants suitable for farms or residences and larger utility-scale wind generators that could be connected to electricity grids for remote use of power. Wind-powered generators operate in sizes ranging between tiny plants for battery charging at isolated residences up to near-gigawatt sized offshore wind farms that provide electricity to national electrical networks. (Full article...)
Mostert's Mill (Afrikaans: Mostert se Meul) is a historic windmill in Mowbray, Cape Town, South Africa. It was built in 1796 and is the oldest surviving complete windmill in South Africa. It was almost completely destroyed by a wildfire on 18 April 2021 but was fully restored by April 2024 and is once more operational and used to grind wheat into whole meal, using the power of the wind. The oldest windmill in South Africa is the De Nieuwe Molen mill in Cape Town, built in 1782. (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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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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The Wendhausen Windmill (German: Windmühle Wendhausen) is a tower mill located in Wendhausen, a town within the municipality of Lehre, Lower Saxony, Germany. Built in 1837, it is the only five-sailed windmill in Germany still in operation. (Full article...)
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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...)
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...)
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...)
Moulin de Craca is a windmill in Plouézec, Côtes-d'Armor, France. First working in 1844 it was restored from 1995. It is popular amongst both locals and tourists because of its location on top of a cliff overlooking Port Lazo.
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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There are three operating offshore wind farms in the United States, and several more are in permitting or under construction. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management studies potential sites in federal waters for offshore wind energy development and leases sites to developers, who work with state regulatory agencies to interconnect and market their electricity. (Full article...)
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Gudhjem Windmill, Bornholm
Gudhjem Windmill (Danish: Gudhjem Mølle) is located in the village of Gudhjem on the Danish island of Bornholm. With a sail span of 24 metres (79 ft), the Dutch mill is the largest windmill in Denmark. It served from 1893 to 1962 when it was taken out of commission. (Full article...)
2018 wind farm map This is a list of large wind farms in the United States. Many of the wind farms in the United States are located in the Great Plains. (Full article...)
The water tank is round, constructed of rock walls about 12 feet (3.7 m) tall and 14 feet (4.3 m) in diameter. It is covered by a concrete-coated wood plank cover. It is one of Bill Darrah's earlier water tank works, and was built for his brother Ben Darrah's upper ranch. (Full article...)
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Amogdoul Wind Farm, Essaouira As of 2020, Morocco had an installed wind power capacity of 1400 MW.
As of 2013, there was an installed capacity of 947 MW and 500 MW are under construction. (Full article...)
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This page is a list of power stations in Japan that are publicly or privately owned. (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...)
The following are images from various wind power-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
Image 16Kiosk 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 17Windmill in the Azores islands, Portugal. (from Windmill)
Image 53Development in size and power of wind turbines, 1990–2016 (from Wind turbine)
Image 54The 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 55Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
Image 64Offshore 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 65The 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)
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Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
The Persian horizontal windmill, the first practical windmill. (from Windmill)
Interior view, Pantigo windmill, East Hampton, New York Historic American Buildings Survey (from Windmill)
Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position (from Wind turbine)
Map of available wind power over the United States. Colour codes indicate wind power density class (from Wind farm)
An isometric drawing of the machinery of the Beebe Windmill (from Windmill)
Egbert Livensz van der Poel, Windmill Fire (17th century), National Museum in Kraków (from Windmill)
Inside view of a wind turbine tower, showing the tendon cables (from Wind turbine)
Technical drawing of a 1793 Dutch smock mill for land drainage (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)
1813 technical drawing (from Windmill)
Jhimpir Wind Farm, Pakistan (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)
Roscoe Wind Farm An onshore wind farm in West Texas (from Wind farm)
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)
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal Wind Turbine (from Wind turbines on public display)
Gouda Wind Facility, South Africa. (from Wind farm)
San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, California (from Wind farm)
Oilmill De Zoeker, paintmill De Kat and paltrok sawmill De Gekroonde Poelenburg at the Zaanse Schans (from Windmill)
James Blyth's electricity-generating wind turbine, photographed in 1891 (from Wind turbine)
Cross section of a post mill (from Windmill)
Nashtifan wind turbines in Sistan, Iran (from Wind turbine)
Thorntonbank Wind Farm, using 5 MW turbines REpower 5M in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium (from Wind turbine)
The Pubnico Wind Farm taken from Beach Point, Lower East Pubnico, Nova Scotia (from Wind farm)
Nacelle of a wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
The Nordex N50 wind turbine and visitor centre of Lamma Winds in Hong Kong, China (from Wind turbine)
The Hancock County wind energy center in Iowa (from Wind turbines on public display)
De Valk windmill in mourning position following the death of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1962 (from Windmill)
The three primary types: VAWT Savonius, HAWT towered; VAWT Darrieus as they appear in operation (from Wind turbine)
Part of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, Oregon, United States with a turbine under construction (from Wind farm)
Northern Iowa wind farm (from Wind farm)
Workers inspect wind turbine blades. (from Wind turbine)
A vertical axis Twisted Savonius type turbine. (from Wind turbine)
Development in size and power of wind turbines, 1990–2016 (from Wind turbine)
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)
Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
Offshore Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs) at Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England (from Wind turbine)
Hooper's Mill, Margate, Kent, an eighteenth-century European horizontal windmill (from Windmill)
The windmills at Kinderdijk in the village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Windmill)
An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (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)
Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen, Denmark. (from Wind farm)
Wind farm interference (in yellow circle) on radar map (from Wind farm)
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