Animation of wind power station power generation principle

How do wind turbines work?

Wind turbines harness the wind—a clean, free, and widely available renewable energy source—to generate electric power. The animation below is interactive. You can start and stop the turbine’s movement, hover over parts to see their description, and use the icons in the lower right corner of the animation to switch views.

What is the difference between upwind and downwind turbines?

Upwind turbines—like the one shown here—face into the wind while downwind turbines face away. Most utility-scale land-based wind turbines are upwind turbines. The wind vane measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

What is a wind power plant?

Wind energy is a natural form of energy that is capable of producing electrical or mechanical forces. Windmills or wind turbines are devices that are capable of converting the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy is further converted into electrical energy. Now let’s discuss the importance of a wind power plant.

How does a utility-scale wind plant work?

In a utility-scale wind plant, each turbine generates electricity which runs to a substation where it then transfers to the grid where it powers our communities. Transmission lines carry electricity at high voltages over long distances from wind turbines and other energy generators to areas where that energy is needed.

How does a wind turbine pitch system work?

The pitch system adjusts the angle of the wind turbine's blades with respect to the wind, controlling the rotor speed. By adjusting the angle of a turbine's blades, the pitch system controls how much energy the blades can extract.

What are the different parts of a wind turbine?

Following are the different parts of the wind turbine: Supporting structure. Lifting-style wind turbine blades. These are designed most efficiently, especially to capture the energy of strong, fast winds. Some European companies actually manufacture single-blade turbines.