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WIND ENERGY: THE TECHNOLOGY
 The theory and practice of using wind energy
to do work for mankind is well known and tested. It has been used for centuries for the
purpose of milling, water pumping and a lot of other applications. However, it is only in
the latter half of this century that humans have started to explore the use of wind energy
to generate electricity. This has now finally come to fruition and countries all over the
world have implemented wind turbines to generate electricity.
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How do we Generate Electricity from Wind Energy?
The movement of air is used to propel blades. These blades then turn in the wind and along with it an axle that is attached at the centre of the blades. The axle caries over the energy to a gearbox and finally to the generator where the electricity is generated. |
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The most common technology used is a horizontal axis turbine with 3 blades as shown in the picture.It consists of:
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For more information about wind energy please go to www.windpower.org |
The principle involved in electricity generation is very much the same as
what has been used during the centuries. The only difference is the introduction of an
electricity generator.
Wind turbines come in all shapes and sizes.
The horizontal axis turbines range anything from 60 Watts to 3.5 Mega Watts and new
plans being made to develop 4 – 6 MW turbines. As can be expected, the physical sizes
vary quite considerably as well. The table below gives an indication of the variation in
sizes.