Wind Energy

From Open Energy Information

What is Wind Energy?

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Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, variations in the earth's surface, and rotation of the earth. Mountains, bodies of water, and vegetation all influence wind flow patterns. Wind energy (or wind power) describes the process by which wind is used to generate electricity. Wind turbines convert the energy in wind to electricity by rotating propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor turns the drive shaft, which turns an electric generator. Three key factors affect the energy a turbine can harness from the wind: wind speed, air density, and swept area. Mechanical power can also be utilized directly for specific tasks such as pumping water. The U.S. Department of Energy developed a short wind power animation that provides an overview of how a wind turbine works and describes the wind resources in the United States.[1]

Wind on OpenEI

Wind Applications

Department of Energy Organizations

Wind Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy defines the scale of wind turbine technologies as follows: utility-scale is greater than 1 megawatt (MW) in size, mid-size turbines are 101 kilowatts (kW) to 1 MW in size, and small turbines are up to 100 kW in size.[2] Distributed wind systems are defined as systems connected on the customer side of the meter (to meet the onsite load) or directly to the local grid (to support grid operations or offset large loads nearby). Small wind is characterized by local ownership and control and includes many distributed wind projects. Offshore wind projects, of course, capture the winds off the coasts and convert them to electricity while land-based wind energy harness the kinetic energy of wind moving over land.[3] Learn more about the technology classes at the links below.

References

  1.  "US DOE EERE: Wind Energy Technologies Office: How Wind Turbines Work"
  2.  "US DOE EERE: Wind Energy Technologies Office: Distributed Wind Market Report 2024 Edition"
  3.  "US DOE EERE: Wind Energy Technologies Office: WINDExchange"