Utilization of wind power

Further information: Category:Wind power by country

Also see Installed wind power capacity for prior years

The modern wind power industry began in 1979 with the serial production of wind turbines by Danish manufacturers Kuriant, Vestas, Nordtank, and Bonus. These early turbines were small by today's standards, with capacities of 20 to 30 kW each. Since then, they have increased greatly in size, while wind turbine production has expanded to many countries all over the world.

There are now many thousands of wind turbines operating, with a total nameplate capacity of 120,791 MW of which wind power in Europe accounts for 55% (2008). Wind power is the fastest growing energy source.^[55] World wind generation capacity more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006. 81% of wind power installations are in the US and Europe. The share of the top five countries in terms of new installations fell from 71% in 2004 to 62% in 2006, but climbed to 73% by 2008 as those countries -- the United States, Germany, Spain, China, and India -- have seen substantial capacity growth in the past two years (see chart).

By 2010, the World Wind Energy Association expects 160GW of capacity to be installed worldwide,^[56] up from 73.9 GW at the end of 2006, implying an anticipated net growth rate of more than 21% per year.

Denmark generates nearly one-fifth of its electricity with wind turbines -- the highest percentage of any country -- and is ninth in the world in total wind power generation. Denmark is prominent in the manufacturing and use of wind turbines, with a commitment made in the 1970s to eventually produce half of the country's power by wind.

In recent years, the United States has added more wind energy to its grid than any other country; U.S. wind power capacity grew by 45% to 16.8 gigawatts in 2007^[57] and surpassing Germany's nameplate capacity in 2008. California was one of the incubators of the modern wind power industry, and led the U.S. in installed capacity for many years; however, by the end of 2006, Texas became the leading wind power state and continues to extend its lead. At the end of 2008, the state had 7,116 MW installed, which would have ranked it sixth in the world if Texas were a separate country. Iowa and Minnesota each grew to more than 1 gigawatt installed by the end of 2007; in 2008 they were joined by Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.^[58] Wind power generation in the U.S. was up 31.8% in February, 2007 from February, 2006.^[59] The average output of one megawatt of wind power is equivalent to the average electricity consumption of about 250 American households. According to the American Wind Energy Association, wind will generate enough electricity in 2008 to power just over 1% (4.5 million households) of total electricity in U.S., up from less than 0.1% in 1999. U.S. Department of Energy studies have concluded wind harvested in the Great Plains states of Texas, Kansas, and North Dakota could provide enough electricity to power the entire nation, and that offshore wind farms could do the same job.^[60][61] In addition, the wind resource over and around the Great Lakes, recoverable with currently available technology, could by itself provide 80% as much power as the U.S. and Canada currently generate from non-renewable resources,^[62] with Michigan's share alone equating to one third of current U.S. electricity demand.^[63]

India ranks 5th in the world with a total wind power capacity of 9,645 MW in 2008, or 3% of all electricity produced in India. The World Wind Energy Conference in New Delhi in November 2006 has given additional impetus to the Indian wind industry.^[56] Muppandal village in Tamil Nadu state, India, has several wind turbine farms in its vicinity, and is one of the major wind energy harnessing centres in India led by majors like Suzlon, Vestas, Micon among others.^[64][65]

In 2005, China announced it would build a 1000-megawatt wind farm in Hebei for completion in 2020. China has set a generating target of 30,000 MW by 2020 from renewable energy sources — it says indigenous wind power could generate up to 253,000 MW.^[66] A Chinese renewable energy law was adopted in November 2004, following the World Wind Energy Conference organized by the Chinese and the World Wind Energy Association. By 2008, wind power was growing faster in China than the government had planned, and indeed faster in percentage terms than in any other large country, having more than doubled each year since 2005. Policymakers doubled their wind power prediction for 2010, after the wind industry reached the original goal of 5 GW three years ahead of schedule.^[67] Current trends suggest an actual installed capacity near 20 GW by 2010, with China shortly thereafter pursuing the United States for the world wind power lead.^[67]

Mexico recently opened La Venta II wind power project as an important step in reducing Mexico's consumption of fossil fuels. The 88 MW project is the first of its kind in Mexico, and will provide 13 percent of the electricity needs of the state of Oaxaca. By 2012 the project will have a capacity of 3500 MW.

Another growing market is Brazil, with a wind potential of 143 GW.^[68] The federal government has created an incentive program, called Proinfa,^[69] to build production capacity of 3300 MW of renewable energy for 2008, of which 1422 MW through wind energy. The program seeks to produce 10% of Brazilian electricity through renewable sources.

South Africa has a proposed station situated on the West Coast north of the Olifants River mouth near the town of Koekenaap, east of Vredendal in the Western Cape province. The station is proposed to have a total output of 100MW although there are negotiations to double this capacity. The plant could be operational by 2010.

France has announced a target of 12,500 MW installed by 2010, though their installation trends over the past few years suggest they'll fall well short of their goal.

Canada experienced rapid growth of wind capacity between 2000 and 2006, with total installed capacity increasing from 137 MW to 1,451 MW, and showing an annual growth rate of 38%.^[70] Particularly rapid growth was seen in 2006, with total capacity doubling from the 684 MW at end-2005.^[71] This growth was fed by measures including installation targets, economic incentives and political support. For example, the Ontario government announced that it will introduce a feed-in tariff for wind power, referred to as 'Standard Offer Contracts', which may boost the wind industry across the province.^[72] In Quebec, the provincially-owned electric utility plans to purchase an additional 2000 MW by 2013.^[73]

Small scale wind power

This wind turbine charges a 12 volt battery to run 12 volt appliances.

Small scale wind power is the name given to wind generation systems with the capacity to produce 50 kW or less of electrical power.^[87] Isolated communities, that otherwise rely on diesel generators, may use wind turbines to displace diesel fuel consumption. Individuals may purchase these systems to reduce or eliminate their dependence on grid electricity for economic or other reasons, or to reduce their carbon footprint. Wind turbines have been used for household electricity generation in conjunction with battery storage over many decades in remote areas. Increasingly, U.S. consumers are choosing to purchase grid-connected turbines in the 1 to 10 kilowatt range to power their whole homes.^{[citation needed]} Household generator units of more than 1 kW are now functioning in several countries, and in every state in the U.S.^{[citation needed]} Grid-connected wind turbines may use grid energy storage, displacing purchased energy with local production when available. Off-grid system users can either adapt to intermittent power or use batteries, photovoltaic or diesel systems to supplement the wind turbine. In urban locations, where it is difficult to obtain predictable or large amounts of wind energy (little is known about the actual wind resource of towns and cities ^[88]), smaller systems may still be used to run low power equipment. Equipment such as parking meters or wireless internet gateways may be powered by a wind turbine that charges a small battery, replacing the need for a connection to the power grid, making the potential carbon savings of small wind turbines difficult to determine.

A new Carbon Trust study into the potential of small-scale wind energy has found that small wind turbines could provide up to 1.5 terawatt hours (TW·h) per year of electricity (0.4% of total UK electricity consumption) and 0.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (Mt CO₂) emission savings. This is based on 10% of households installing turbines at costs competitive with grid electricity, which is currently around 12p per kilowatt-hour.^[89]

Distributed generation from renewable resources is expected to grow as a consequence of the increased awareness of climate change. The electronic interfaces required to connect renewable generation units with the utility system can be designed with additional functions such as active filtering which will allow surplus power to be fed back to the grid. ^[90]