Renewable Wind Energy

Wind energy has been harnessed for hundreds of years in the use of windmills that pumped water and milled grain for consumption. Windmills have undergone changes with time and today wind turbines generate electricity using the wind’s energy. Renewable wind energy is an alternative to fossil fuels and is available in plenty producing no greenhouse gas emissions when used.

Wind turbines are mounted onto towering structures to capture the most wind energy. Wind turbines have blades shaped like propellers that trap the energy from the wind and form a pocket of low pressure air on the underside of the blade. The air pocket formed then pulls the blade toward it, rotating the blades. The spinning of the rotor causes the turning shaft to spin and generate electricity from the renewable wind energy.

Stand-alone wind turbines may be used or they can be connected to a utility power grid or sometimes even combined with a solar cell system. A wind plant is often formed for utility sources by building a large number of wind turbines close to each other. Today many wind plants are used by electricity companies to provide power to customers. A careful selection of wind turbines is essential to economic development of renewable wind energy. In a wind farm stand-alone wind turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system and network of communications. The excess power that is produced by micro-generators can be sold to utility companies offsetting the energy costs for the owner.

The renewable wind energy production is highly variable according to the time of the day, season, and weather conditions. In some areas peak wind speeds may not meet the demand for electric power. For example, in California and Texas, hot summer days may have low wind speed but higher demand of electricity for air conditioning. Renewable wind energy has minimal fuel costs and a high capital cost. In the United States, tax credits are given to increase its attractiveness.