The wind turbine, or wind energy converter, is a system that transforms the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Wind turbines are made in a broad variety of sizes, with horizontal or vertical axes.
There are 650 gigawatts in hundreds of thousands of massive turbines, known as wind farms, with 60 GW added each year. They are becoming an increasingly important source of intermittent renewable energy and are being used by many countries as part of a strategy to reduce costs and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
How Much Wind Does A Wind Turbine Need
More than 2,300 wind turbines are spinning and generating electricity off the coasts of 11 European countries. A significant number of these turbines are situated in the North Sea and the Irish Sea. One explanation for this is that the winds flowing through these bodies of water are not only solid, they are also sustained.
It’s the same reason renewable energy companies look to the North Carolina coast as a potential place for wind farms. But that brings up the question: how much wind does the wind farm, or at least the wind turbine, need?
It’s not surprising because, just as the wind is constantly changing, wind turbines are designed to work within a broad variety of wind specifications, so the response varies.
Upwind turbines face the wind, while downwind turbines face off the wind. Some of the latest generations of wind turbines will operate at lower wind speeds, usually around five miles per hour. However, these turbines are typically smaller, do not produce as much energy, and are not built to withstand higher wind ranges.
Most of which are referred large-scale wind turbines usually begin to turn seven to nine miles per hour in winds. Their top speeds are around 50-55 mph, which is their upper safety limit. Large-scale wind turbines usually have a braking system that kicks about 55 mph to prevent blade damage.
Ironically, many commercial wind turbines need an electric ‘kick-start’ to start spinning. This is what overcomes the inertia of getting the blades to start spinning.
You would think that once the blades are turned, electricity is produced. But that’s not accurate, since the blades don’t turn quickly enough. The blades are attached to a shaft that rotates between 30 and 60 rotations per minute. The shaft then connects to the gearbox, which increases the rotation speed from 1000 to 1800 rotations per minute, which is the speed needed by most generators to generate electricity.
Of course, the amount of energy the wind turbine produces depends on the size of the turbine, also known as the power rating, and how quickly the wind travels at the position of the turbine. It will interest you to know that Wind turbines have a power rating of between 250 watts (sufficient to charge a battery) and 10 kilowatts (sufficient to power a house) and six megawatts (enough to power more than 1600 houses).
How Much Electricity Can a Wind Turbine Create?
Most onshore wind turbines have a capacity of 2-3 megawatts (MW), which can generate more than 6 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity per year. That’s enough to satisfy the electricity demand of some 1,500 typical households.
The harder the wind blows, the more electricity is produced to a certain amount. In reality, when the wind speed doubles, up to 8 times more electricity is produced. But if the wind is too high, the turbines will shut down to avoid damage.
All of this means that the capacity of the wind turbine to produce the full amount of power it can have depends on the wind. Wind farms are carefully designed to ensure that they are in areas with a reliable amount of wind all year round.
This appears to be on the top of a hilltop with plenty of open space around it, and in coastal areas. That’s why there are a lot of wind turbines in areas like Cornwall and Scotland.
