Umair Gaines
Wind power is a clean, renewable, and sustainable energy source that has seen rapid growth in recent years. Countries have added a record-breaking amount of wind power capacity to their grids, with the global share of wind energy generation reaching 30% in 2023. China leads the world in wind energy capacity, with nearly one-quarter to one-third of the world's wind power capacity. The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest onshore wind farm in the world, with a capacity of over 6,000 MW by 2012 and a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020. Other countries with significant wind energy capacity include the United States, Germany, India, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and France. The Hornsea One wind farm in the UK is currently the world's largest offshore wind farm, with a generation capacity of 1.2 GW.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Hornsea One, UK |
| Type | Offshore wind farm |
| Generation Capacity | 1.2GW |
| Owner | UK government |
| Status | Operational |
| Number of Turbines | Not specified |
| Turbine Height | Not specified |
| Turbine Blade Length | Not specified |
| Cut-in Speed | 6-9 miles per hour |
| Other | The Hornsea Two sister project will add another 1.3GW of generation capacity upon completion |
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What You'll Learn
China's Gansu Wind Farm
The Gansu Wind Farm, also known as the Jiuquan Wind Power Base, is a group of large wind farms in the western Gansu province in China. It is located in desert areas near the city of Jiuquan, on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, which has an abundance of wind. The wind farm is made up of 18 individual wind farms with over 7,000 wind turbines and a planned capacity of 20 GW.
The Gansu Wind Farm Project is a significant initiative for China, aiming to establish the country as a global leader in clean energy. The central government has invested heavily in the project, with plans to generate 20 gigawatts of power, which is more than the combined wind capacity of several countries. The project is also expected to offset 623,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) annually.
However, the wind farm has faced challenges due to its remote location, which is about a thousand miles from China's high-density port cities that would be the biggest consumers of its energy. This, coupled with a lack of demand for wind energy in China compared to coal, has resulted in underutilization. In 2015, the wind farm was operating at below 40% utilization, and in 2016, nearly half of the electricity produced by the province's wind turbines was discarded.
To address these issues, a 2,383-kilometer transmission line was built to connect the wind farm to the Hunan regional grid, allowing full utilization of its generation capacity. Additionally, the central government has lifted its ban on wind energy investment in Gansu, and the efficiency of the farm's renewable energy has increased to 95%.
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Hornsea One, UK
The world's largest wind electricity farm is the Hornsea One Offshore Wind Farm, located in the North Sea, 120 km off the Yorkshire coast of England. The wind farm, owned by Ørsted, covers an area of 407 square kilometres, which is over five times the size of the city of Hull. It comprises 174 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 7 megawatts, and standing at 190 metres tall with 75-metre-long blades. A single rotation of a Hornsea 1 turbine can power a UK home for over a day.
The project began construction in January 2018 and became fully operational in 2019, supplying power to the UK national electricity grid. It has a total capacity of 1.2 GW, making it the world's first offshore wind farm to exceed 1 GW in capacity. With a capacity of 1,218 MW, it was the largest in the world upon its completion. The wind farm has a lifespan of approximately 25 years and is expected to power approximately one million homes in the UK.
Hornsea One is part of a £6 billion investment to transform the Humber region into a hub for the UK's renewable energy sector. Ørsted has invested over £1 billion in the region, including more than £45 million directly into local community development, education, and skills enhancement. The project has also created employment opportunities, with over 8,000 people inducted to work offshore at Hornsea One, and an expected generation of up to 2,300 jobs.
The construction of Hornsea One involved several contractors and suppliers. Notable contracts include the installation of transition pieces by SPIE UK, the manufacturing of internal support structures by Mech Tool Engineering, and the installation of subsea power cables by JDR. The project also utilised the world's longest high-voltage AC offshore wind export cable system, comprising over 900 km of cables to transfer electricity to the shore and national grid.
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US wind power
Wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the US, making up 8.4% of US electricity generation. Texas is the top-performing state in terms of wind-powered electricity, producing three times more than any other state. However, wind energy only makes up 20% of the state's total electricity generation. Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas are also top wind power producers, with wind making up a larger share of net electricity generation in these states. In 2020 and 2021, record-breaking turbine installations increased US wind energy generation by 30%.
The US has over 141 GW of installed wind power capacity. The Alta Wind Energy Center in California is currently the largest completed wind farm in the country, with a capacity of 1,548 MW. When completed in 2026, SunZia Wind in Central New Mexico will be the largest wind farm in the western hemisphere, with over 900 turbines and a generating capacity of 3,500 MW.
The US government has a target of 20% wind energy by 2030, which would require about 305 GW of wind turbines. To achieve this, significant advances in cost, performance, and reliability are needed. After the PTC phase-out in 2021, additional wind power capacity is expected to be around 5 GW per year.
Wind power is one of the safest and most sustainable sources of energy, and it is affordable to construct and easy to scale up or down. However, it is dependent on wind speeds, and the US saw a 2% decrease in wind power production in 2023 due to weaker-than-normal winds in the Midwest. Despite this, global wind power capacity hit a record high in 2023, with China continuing to be the driving force behind wind power expansion.
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Germany's wind capacity
China is currently the world's largest producer of wind power, generating 466.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of wind power in 2021, which accounted for more than 29% of the global total. The United States is the second-largest producer, generating 341.4 TWh in 2021, which was 21% of the global total. Together, China and the United States generated 50.6% of the world's wind power in 2021.
In Europe, Germany has been a leader in wind power capacity. In the late 20th century, Germany built the largest wind power capacity worldwide. By 2019, gross production from onshore wind power was over 101,000 GWh, allowing Germany to power about a fifth of the country with wind energy. Germany has one of the largest onshore wind power capacities in the world, and it is projected to become the backbone of the country's entire energy system as it moves away from fossil fuels. In 2024, Germany had the largest installed onshore wind fleet in Europe and the third-largest globally, with more than 28,000 turbines and a cumulative capacity of 63 gigawatts (GW).
Following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accident, Germany's federal government began focusing on increasing renewable energy commercialization, particularly offshore wind farms. Germany aimed to have 7.6 GW of offshore wind power installed by 2020 and as much as 26 GW by 2030. By the end of 2019, Germany had installed 1,469 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 7.52 GW. Germany is also replacing first-generation wind turbines with modern multi-megawatt machines, which make better use of available wind energy and offer improved grid integration.
In 2023, Germany's onshore wind capacity grew by 14%. In 2024, onshore wind turbines contributed 23% to gross electricity generation with an output of about 114 TWh. The overall share of renewable power in Germany reached a record high of 57.6% in 2024.
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Brazil's wind power
Brazil has become a global leader in wind power, ranking sixth in the world for wind energy in 2023. The country's wind energy sector has experienced rapid growth, with a capacity of less than 1GW a decade ago to 24GW of onshore wind installed capacity in 2023. This growth is expected to continue, with forecasts suggesting Brazil will have at least 30 GW of installed wind energy capacity by 2024.
The first wind turbine in Brazil was installed in 1992 on the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, but the high cost of technology and a lack of policies hindered progress in the sector for the next decade. During the 2001 energy crisis, the Brazilian government attempted to encourage wind power generation projects with the Emergency Wind Energy Program (PROEÓLICA), which aimed to contract 1,050 MW of wind energy projects by December 2003. However, this program was unsuccessful and was replaced by the Incentive Program for Alternative Energy Sources, PROINFA, which paved the way for the establishment of the wind turbine and component industry in Brazil.
The development of a local and efficient production chain has also contributed significantly to the growth of Brazil's wind energy sector. The country now has six turbine manufacturers, blade and wind tower factories, and hundreds of companies working on other components. Brazil's wind power development has attracted investments of more than US$42 billion over the last 11 years, with US$5.15 billion invested in 2021 alone.
Brazil's wind energy sector is expected to continue expanding, with 86 onshore wind projects planned over the next five years and a total investment of $36 billion. The country is also exploring offshore wind projects, with seven projects proposed that could deliver a combined capacity of 14.5 GW of power.
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Frequently asked questions
The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world. By 2012, it had a capacity of over 6,000 MW, with a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020.
A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity.
Wind power is electricity generated by harnessing the power of wind through wind turbines. It is clean, renewable, sustainable, affordable to construct, and easy to scale up or down.
China tops the list with nearly 442,000 megawatts of total installed wind energy capacity in 2023, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
China has the world's largest onshore wind farm in Gansu Province, built out of the Gobi Desert. It has a peak capacity of 10GW.
