Generators create electricity from turbines that are powered by the wind. Wind power is clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions and have little effect on the environment unlike non-renewable power sources. Wind power stations or wind farms are a linear series of wind turbines in the same location connected to a generator which in turn transmits the electricity to the grid.
Wind farms can either be onshore or offshore. In both cases the power produced is not constant due to the fluctuation of the wind. Variable power is then compensated with other electrical power sources for a steady flow.
Weather forecasting can help in foreseeing these wind variations for better management.
Wind Turbine on a pasture.
A typical wind turbine consists of the body, a turbine, with blades attached that spin with the power of the wind as in the classical windmills of late. These turbines then pivot atop a single pedestal. Many wind turbines are then spaced in a line and connected to generators to produce electricity. The land between and around these pedestals can be used for agriculture and or pasture.
In order to transmit this electricity, a transformer is used to increase the voltage for connection to the high voltage lines. The large cost expense in the United States is that there no high voltage lines from the Midwest, where there is a near constant availability of wind, to the highly populated coastal cities on both coasts.
As for offshore wind farms the cost is higher in both construction and maintenance not to mention the high voltage ocean floor cable required to carry the electricity. Also wind companies cannot perform at top capacity due to federal utility rules allowing only minimum standards for feeder lines.
Old Stone Windmill.
Wind farms were pioneered in the U.S. With the advent of technology it is possible to construct smaller and smaller wind farms or windmills that can be utilized on top of ones home. Such designs are the wind tree turbine that has been demonstrated in Paris and other designs by individuals.