Wind turbine power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy such as electricity. It involves the harnessing of free and abundant wind, a gift of nature, to produce an alternative type of energy that is distinctly more environment-friendly and inexpensive.
Wind turbine power has been used by sailboats and sailing ships for over 5000 years and today, remains extremely popular in European countries besides China and India, even though it forms only 1% of the total amount of electricity produced. Increased awareness about the benefits of wind turbine power has led to a five-fold increase in its global production.
Most of wind turbine power is generated in the form of electricity. The process involves the connecting of large-scale wind farms to electrical grids. The strength of wind varies and higher wind speed ensures higher amounts of power generated. However, this comes in short spurts. Hence it lacks the continuity and consistency of fuel-fired power plants. Wind speed, as we all know, is not constant-this limits the capacity of all wind turbine power plants, especially those which do not have storage facilities.
A solution to this is the use of various types of grid energy storage to store energy developed by high-wind periods that can be released when the force of wind is inadequate. Stored power enhances the economic value of wind turbine power as it can be used to displace higher cost generation during peak demand periods. Although the optimum production of wind power generation depends primarily on the appropriate selection of a wind turbine site, a number of other factors also come into play. For example the availability of transmission lines, the value of energy to be produced, the cost of land acquisition, alternative land use considerations and also environmental factors.
In economic terms, wind turbine power has negligible fuel costs and relatively low maintenance costs, which implies low marginal costs and a high proportion of capital costs. Added to this is the advantage that there are no carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide or mercury emissions. In contrast, wind turbine power plants use resources in its construction like steel, aluminium and concrete.
The modern wind turbine power industry is less than 30 years old. Its top 5 users today include Germany, USA, Spain, India and China. The future of wind turbine power is extremely bright as it shall emerge as the most cost-effective source of electric power.
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