Electricity Fact Sheet
Wind Energy
The earth’s surface is made up of land and water, which absorbs heat from the sun at different rates. The wind is the motion of the air and it is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Wind energy is renewable, clean and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The wind has been used for centuries to move the blades of windmills to grind grains and pump water in England, Holland and other European countries. There are written references to windmills in England and France dating from the mid-1100s. Evidence of the use of windmills could go back further. A geographer in the seventh century mentioned that windmills were in use in Persia at that time.
In rural Australia windmills are a common sight and are used to pump water into storage tanks for agricultural use. Some Remote Area Power Supplies (RAPS) combine a single wind turbine and photovoltaic modules to generate power for small communities. Generally, a diesel plant will provide backup power when necessary.
Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity using linked wind turbines on wind farms. Large wind farms are connected to electricity grids. Individual turbines are used to provide electricity to isolated communities. At the end of 2007, the installed capacity of wind-generated electricity in Australia was 824 MW from 42 wind farms.
Locations of some wind farms in Australia:
LOCATION |
STATE |
INSTALLED CAPACITY |
Thursday Island |
Queensland |
450 kW |
Coconut Island |
Queensland |
10 kW |
North Keppel Island |
Queensland |
8 kW |
Windy Hill |
Queensland |
12 MW |
Blayney |
New South Wales |
10 MW |
Crookwell |
New South Wales |
4.8 MW |
Kooragang Island |
New South Wales |
600 kW |
Malabar, Sydney |
New South Wales |
300 kW |
Breamlea |
Victoria |
60 kW |
Aurora |
Victoria |
10 kW |
Lake Bonney |
South Australia |
239.5 MW |
Brown Hill Range, Hallett |
South Australia |
94.5 MW |
Wattle Point |
South Australia |
90.75 MW |
Mount Millar |
South Australia |
70 MW |
Cathedral Rocks |
South Australia |
66 MW |
Coober Pedy |
South Australia |
150 kW |
Pitjinjarra |
South Australia |
5 kW |
Alinta/Walkway |
Western Australia |
90 MW |
Emu Downs |
Western Australia |
80 MW |
Esperance |
Western Australia |
2 MW |
Murdoch |
Western Australia |
28 kW
upgrading to 48 kW |
Denham |
Western Australia |
230 kW |
Epenarra |
Northern Territory |
80 kW |
King Island |
Tasmania |
750 kW |
Flinders Island |
Tasmania |
100 kW |
Table Source
In comparison to Australia’s installed capacity of 824 MW in 2007, Germany has the highest installed wind power capacity in the world with 22,247 MW. The United States (16,818 MW) and Spain (15,145 MW) are the countries with the second and third highest installed capacity.
The World Energy Association predicts 160 (Gigawatt) GW of capacity to be installed worldwide by 2010. In 2007, the world total is 93,849 MW.
Installed wind power capacity of some Nations by rank:
RANK |
NATION |
INSTALLED WIND POWER CAPACITY (MW) |
1 |
Germany |
22,247 |
2 |
United States |
16,818 |
3 |
Spain |
15,145 |
4 |
India |
8,000 |
5 |
China |
6,050 |
6 |
Denmark & Faroe Islands |
3,129 |
7 |
Italy |
2,726 |
8 |
France |
2,454 |
9 |
United Kingdom |
2,389 |
10 |
Portugal |
2,150 |
11 |
Canada |
1,856 |
12 |
Netherlands |
1,747 |
13 |
Japan |
1,538 |
14 |
Austria |
982 |
15 |
Greece |
871 |
16 |
Australia |
824 |
Table source
The wind is unpredictable and peak wind speeds may not always coincide with peak demands for electrical power. However, wind energy is plentiful and renewable. It is a clean way to generate electricity and reduces greenhouse gases.
Earlier criticism from people living close to wind farms about noise and vibration from the working turbines, fears about the danger to birds from the whirling blades, and the visual impact of the windmills spoiling the landscape has been relaxed considerably due to new turbine designs, advanced technology and careful assessment of the land. In some places, wind farms have become tourist attractions and a source of education about renewable energy.
Beedel, S., (1975) Windmills (London: David & Charles) p.13
‘Global wind 2007 report’ (PDF) Global Wind Energy Council (2008) cited in Wikipedia, ‘Wind Power in Australia’.
www.sustainableenergy.qld.edu.au/fact/factsheet_8.html and Wikipedia ‘Wind Power in Australia’.
World Wind Energy Association Statistics (PDF) cited in Wikipedia ‘Wind Power’.
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) statistics; European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) statistics and GWEC wind power capacity (MW) 2008 cited in Wikipedia ‘Wind Power’. |
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