What is wind energy?
This energy type is electricity generated by harnessing the wind.
By the end of 2020 there was 744 GW of wind energy installed around the world, meeting almost six per cent of global electricity demand. It is expected to continue to grow its share of electricity generation globally, as well as in Australia.
How does it work?
Wind turbines use the energy of the wind to spin an electric generator, which produces electricity. Here is a link to a wind energy Europe site which explains the basic concepts.
As the wind does not continuously blow, researchers have developed ways to use energy from wind that also help to maintain a reliable supply of electricity, such as pairing wind farms with solar farms and/or energy storage such as batteries and/or hydrogen production.
IWF is not aligned to any particular wind turbine supplier and has found that not all suppliers, have the best turbine option, for all sites, all the time. IWF deals with all the major turbine suppliers and typically uses the most optimal sized turbine for the site to illustrate the effects in its planning permit applications. Links to the major suppliers and their latest models in no particular order are as follows: