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The Wind Power Portal

The Gansu Wind Farm in Gansu, China

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An aerial view of the Power County wind farm in Power County, Idaho, with Nordex N100/2500 turbines

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Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity generation. Today, wind power is generated almost completely using wind turbines, generally grouped into wind farms and connected to the electrical grid.

In 2024, wind supplied about 2,500 TWh of electricity, which was over 8% of world electricity. With about 100 GW added during 2021, mostly in China and the United States, global installed wind power capacity exceeded 800 GW. 30 countries generated more than a tenth of their electricity from wind power in 2024 and wind generation has nearly tripled since 2015. To help meet the Paris Agreement goals to limit climate change, analysts say it should expand much faster – by over 1% of electricity generation per year. (Full article...)

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Whitelee Wind Farm with the Isle of Arran in the background.

Wind power is the fastest-growing renewable energy technology in Scotland, with 16,648 megawatts (MW) of installed wind power capacity by Q2 2024. This included 9,756 MW from onshore wind in Scotland and 2,971 MW of offshore wind generators. The largest onshore wind farm in the UK is Whitelee, just south of Glasgow, with 215 turbines and a total capacity of 539 MW.

There is further potential for expansion, especially offshore given the high average wind speeds, and a number of large offshore wind farms are planned. As offshore wind farms are moving into deeper water, floating wind turbines are being used. Hywind Scotland off the coast of Peterhead was the world's first floating offshore wind farm, commissioned in October 2017. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Wind turbine List of most powerful wind turbines Wind farm Gansu Wind Farm Wind power in China Altamont Pass wind farm Hornsea Wind Farm Wind power in the United Kingdom Walney Wind Farm History of wind power Wind power in Australia Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project Wind power by country Vertical-axis wind turbine Unconventional wind turbines Panemone windmill Airborne wind energy Vortex Bladeless Small wind turbine Wind power in the European Union Wind power in the United States Wind power in France Wind power in Denmark Alta Wind Energy Center Shepherds Flat Wind Farm Whitelee Wind Farm Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm Siemens Gamesa Ocean Wind Wind turbine syndrome Wind turbine design Seawind Ocean Technology Wind turbine prognostics Offshore wind power Montefiore Windmill NASA wind turbines Wind Powering America Wind power in California Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Aermotor Windmill Company Infigen Energy Vestas List of wind farms in Victoria Wind power in South Australia Thelnetham Windmill Fabyan Windmill Environmental impact of wind power Wind Scout Moor Wind Farm Wind-powered vehicle

General windmill articles

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  Image 1

  The most important power stations in Turkey are listed here. Turkey generates about 300 TWh of electricity per year. (Full article...)
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  Image 2

  

  Henvey Inlet, the largest wind farm in Ontario and the third largest in Canada

  
  This is a list of the ten largest operational wind farms in Canada. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm.
  
  The Centennial Wind Power Facility in Saskatchewan was the first wind farm in Canada to have a capacity of at least 100 MW upon completion in 2006. Since then numerous other wind farms have surpassed the 100 MW threshold, most often through the expansion of existing wind farms. All but two of Canada's provinces or territories are home to at least one wind farm, those without being Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. (Full article...)
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  Image 3

  
  

  

  Moulin de Craca.

  
  Moulin de Craca is a windmill in Plouézec, Côtes-d'Armor, France. First working in 1844 it was restored from 1995. It is popular amongst both locals and tourists because of its location on top of a cliff overlooking Port Lazo.
  
  Every August the Plouézec-Ballinamore twinning committee organises Noz Ar Vilin Fest Noz around the windmill. There is a selection of Breton and Irish music and dancing, as well as local cuisine and drinks. Amongst the specialities are Moules-Frites (Mussels and chips), Crêpes, Galettes, Breton cider, and Chouchen. (Full article...)
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  Image 4

  
  

  

  The mill as preserved

  
  Heckington Windmill is the only eight-sailed tower windmill still standing in the United Kingdom with its sails intact.
  
  Heckington is located between Sleaford and Boston in Lincolnshire, England. The mill stands very close to Heckington railway station, hence its name of the 'Station Mill' in the 19th century. The windmill is designated a Grade I listed building. (Full article...)
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  Image 5

  This page is a list of power stations in Japan that are publicly or privately owned. (Full article...)
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  Montefiore Windmill, 30 March 2016

  
  The Montefiore Windmill is a landmark windmill in Jerusalem. Designed as a flour mill, it was built in 1857 on a slope opposite the western city walls of Jerusalem, where three years later the new Jewish neighbourhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim was erected, both by the efforts of British Jewish banker and philanthropist Moses Montefiore. Jerusalem at the time was part of Ottoman-ruled Palestine. Today the windmill serves as a small museum dedicated to the achievements of Montefiore. It was restored in 2012 with a new cap and sails in the style of the originals. The mill can turn in the wind. (Full article...)
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  Image 7

  
  

  

  View of the Bourne Windmill 1975

  
  The Bourne Windmill, Oakdale, New York was an American farm design tower windmill, built in 1911 by Commodore Frederic G Bourne, as part of a farm in Oakdale, New York. It was located north of his South Shore estate, known as Indian Neck Hall, which later became LaSalle Military Academy. The windmill was demolished in 2004–2005. (Full article...)
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  Image 8

  The following page lists some power stations in mainland China, sorted by energy source and location. (Full article...)
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  Image 9

  The following page lists all the power stations in Sweden. For traction power, see List of installations for 15 kV AC railway electrification in Sweden. (Full article...)
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  Image 10

  

  Amogdoul Wind Farm, Essaouira

  
  As of 2020, Morocco had an installed wind power capacity of 1400 MW.
  
  As of 2013, there was an installed capacity of 947 MW and 500 MW are under construction. (Full article...)
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  Image 11

  

  Tjasker Ossenzijl

  
  The tjasker (West Frisian: jasker, German: Fluttermühle) is a small type of windmill used solely for drainage purposes. It is distinctive for its simple construction, featuring only a single inclined shaft that carries the sails on one end and an Archimedes' screw on the other, in this way avoiding the need for any gearing. The tjasker is commonly known as a typical Frisian windmill though it is also found in other Dutch provinces and in north Germany. (Full article...)
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  Image 12

  This is a list of operational, offshore wind farms in Denmark (within the national maritime boundaries). Denmark's wind power generation is the highest in the world as a fraction of domestic consumption, reaching 47% in 2019.
  
  Data is primarily from the 4C Offshore's Global Offshore Wind Farm Map and Database. Tariff data is supplied by the Danish Energy Agency. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm, and is usually related to a shoal or the name of the nearest town on shore. The "wind farm" part of the name is implied and hence omitted for ease of reading. (Full article...)
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  Image 13

  

  
  The Alexander & Anna Schwartz Farm, located at 57 E. Rd. 70 in Dighton, Kansas, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
  
  It includes three buildings (a house built c.1928, a barn, and a smokehouse/cellar) and an Aermotor windmill. The house is built of structural hollow clay tile, also known as structural terra cotta. (Full article...)
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  Image 14

  

  
  Boyd's Windmill, also known as Boyd's Wind Grist Mill, is a historic smock mill at Paradise Valley Park on Prospect Avenue in Middletown, Rhode Island. John Peterson built the windmill at the corner of Mill Lane and West Main Rd. in Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1810, and William Boyd purchased it in 1815. It originally had four common sails, but four more were added by the family. The mill is a timber-frame structure, octagonal in shape, and about 30 feet (9.1 m) tall, with a rotating cap powered by eight vanes with canvas sheets. The grindstones in the middle of the mill are Fall River granite; the upper one, which is connected to the power mechanisms, rotates six times for each turn of the mill's main shaft. In 1916 Benjamin Boyd removed the original vanes and powered the mill using a gasoline engine. It is one of only two historic windmills (out of what was estimated to be more than thirty) to survive on Aquidneck Island.
  
  Boyd's Mill features prominently on the town seal of Middletown. (Full article...)
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  Image 15

  This article lists all power stations in Uruguay. (Full article...)
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  Image 16

  

  Eskom nation grid production by source in April 2023

  
  South Africa produced around 245,000 GWh of electricity in 2021. Most of this electricity is produced using coal and is consumed domestically. In 2022, 12,300 GWh were exported to Eswatini, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other countries participating in the Southern African Power Pool. In 2022, South Africa imported 10,800 GWh from the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Station in Mozambique via the 1,920 MW Cahora Bassa (HDVC) Power Transmission System.
  
  Most power stations in South Africa are owned and operated by the state owned enterprise,Eskom. These plants account for 86 of all the electricity produced in South Africa and ~20% of all electricity produced on the African continent. In terms of share of GDP in 2012, South Africa was the 4th largest investor in renewable power in the world after Uruguay, Mauritius and Costa Rica. (Full article...)
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  Image 17

  
  

  

  Button's Mill, c1911

  
  Jay's Mill, Button's Mill or Victoria Road Mill is a tower mill at Diss, Norfolk, England which has been truncated and converted to residential accommodation. (Full article...)
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  Image 18

  

  Offshore wind farms in the German Bight

  
  
  The following is a list of offshore wind farms in Germany, operational within the national maritime boundaries. Germany, along with Denmark and the United Kingdom is a worldwide leader in advancing offshore wind farm technology.
  The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm and is usually related to a shoal or the name of the nearest town on shore. (Full article...)
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  Image 19

  
  

  

  Alford Windmill, September 2005

  
  Alford Windmill is a five-sailed windmill in Alford, Lincolnshire and the only surviving windmill out of four. Though the windmill has been restored to working order, it no longer supplies flour for sale. (Full article...)
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  Image 20

  

  Leonardusmolen, in Limburg area, Netherlands

  
  The List of windmills is a link page for any windmill or windpump. (Full article...)
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  Image 21

  

  Smock mill with fantail (Sønderho, Fanø, Denmark)

  
  The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type of windmill got its name from its resemblance to smocks worn by farmers in an earlier period. (Full article...)
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  Image 22

  

  
  Vinegar Hill Windmill or Templeshannon Windmill is a tower mill on Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy, County Wexford. (Full article...)
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  Image 23

  As of 2016, there were over 160 operational wind farms in Lithuania, but the majority of them consisted of small farms generating less than 2 MW. (Full article...)
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  Image 24

  

  Brill windmill, a 17th-century post mill in Buckinghamshire

  
  The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These are struts that steady the central post.
  
  The body of the windmill can be turned around the central post to bring the sails into the wind. All post mills have an arm projecting from them on the side opposite the sails and reaching down to near ground level. With some, as at Saxtead Green, the arm carries a fantail to turn the mill automatically. With the others the arm serves to rotate the mill into the wind by hand. (Full article...)
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  Image 25

  There are three operating offshore wind farms in the United States, and several more are in permitting or under construction. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management studies potential sites in federal waters for offshore wind energy development and leases sites to developers, who work with state regulatory agencies to interconnect and market their electricity. (Full article...)

Topics

Wind power topics

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Windmill topics

The windmills at Kinderdijk in the village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; the horizontal or panemone windmill first appeared in Persia during the 9th century, and the vertical windmill first appeared in northwestern Europe in the 12th century. Regarded as an icon of Dutch culture, there are approximately 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands today. (Full article...)

• Ben Darrah Water Tank and Well House
• Glossary of mill machinery
• Post mill
• Alexander & Anna Schwartz Farm
• Smock mill
• Tjasker
• Tower mill
• Wind rights
• Windmill fantail
• Windmill sail
• Windmills of Corvo
• Windpump

Examples of multi-sailed windmills

• Alford Windmill
• Boyd's Windmill
• Button's Mill, Diss
• Davidson Windmill
• Dobson's Mill
• Heckington Windmill
• Holgate Windmill
• Maud Foster Windmill
• Old Buckenham Windmill
• Ringle Crouch Green Mill
• Waltham Windmill
• Wendhausen Windmill
• Xarolla Windmill

Examples of tower mills

• Aarsdale Windmill
• Blennerville Windmill
• Bourne Windmill, Oakdale, New York
• Elphin Windmill
• Greenhill Windmill
• Gudhjem Windmill
• Montefiore Windmill
• Morgan Lewis Windmill
• Mostert's Mill
• Moulin de Craca
• Myreagre Mølle
• Old Mill, Perth
• Pedersker Kirkemølle
• Scherpenberg mill
• Ta' Kola Windmill
• The Old Windmill, Brisbane
• Vinegar Hill Windmill
• Xarolla Windmill

General images

The following are images from various wind power-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Image 1De Valk windmill in mourning position following the death of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1962 (from Windmill)
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  Image 2The rotor of a gearless wind turbine being set. This particular turbine was prefabricated in Germany, before being shipped to the U.S. for assembly. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 3Nashtifan wind turbines in Sistan, Iran (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 45-sail Holgate windmill in York, England (from Windmill)
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  Image 5The Australian Canunda Wind Farm, South Australia at sunrise (from Wind farm)
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  Image 6Development in size and power of wind turbines, 1990–2016 (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 7Éole, the largest vertical-axis wind turbine, in Cap-Chat, Quebec, Canada (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 8A wind farm overlooking Bada Bagh, India (from Wind farm)
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  Image 9Onshore horizontal-axis wind turbines in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 10An isometric drawing of the machinery of the Beebe Windmill (from Windmill)
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  Image 11The Nordex N50 wind turbine and visitor centre of Lamma Winds in Hong Kong, China (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 12Two smock mills with a stage in Greetsiel, Germany (from Windmill)
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  Image 13James Blyth's electricity-generating wind turbine, photographed in 1891 (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 14A vertical-axis twisted-Savonius-type turbine (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 15Nacelle of a wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 16A 19th-century reconstruction of Heron's wind-powered organ (from Windmill)
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  Image 17Kiosk at the base of the Lamma Winds Nordex N50/800kW wind turbine on Lamma Island, Hong Kong, with displays showing current power output and cumulative energy produced (from Wind turbines on public display)
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  Image 18Offshore windfarms, including floating windfarms, provide a small but growing fraction of total windfarm power generation. Such power generation capacity must grow substantially to help meet the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 pathway to combat climate change. (from Wind farm)
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  Image 19The Pubnico Wind Farm taken from Beach Point, Lower East Pubnico, Nova Scotia (from Wind farm)
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  Image 20Map of available wind power over the United States. Colour codes indicate wind power density class. (from Wind farm)
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  Image 21Illustration of the wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 221813 technical drawing (from Windmill)
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  Image 23Wind farm interference (in yellow circle) on radar map (from Wind farm)
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  Image 24Wind farm in Xinjiang, China (from Wind farm)
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  Image 25A small Quietrevolution QR5 Gorlov-type vertical-axis wind turbine in Bristol, England. Measuring 3 m in diameter and 5 m high, it has a nameplate rating of 6.5 kW to the grid. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 26Northern Iowa wind farm (from Wind farm)
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  Image 27Offshore horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) at Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 28Diagram of the smock mill at Meopham, Kent (from Windmill)
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  Image 29Tower mills in Consuegra, Spain (from Windmill)
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  Image 30Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen, Denmark (from Wind farm)
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  Image 31Workers inspect wind turbine blades. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 32Nordex wind turbine manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 33Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 34Wind turbines in the Bahrain World Trade Center (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 35The Hancock County wind energy center in Iowa (from Wind turbines on public display)
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  Image 36Don Quixote being struck by a windmill (1863 illustration by Gustave Doré). (from Windmill)
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  Image 37Components of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 38Oilmill De Zoeker, paintmill De Kat and paltrok sawmill De Gekroonde Poelenburg at the Zaanse Schans (from Windmill)
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  Image 39A turbine blade convoy passing through Edenfield, England (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 40A windmill in Wales, United Kingdom. 1815. (from Windmill)
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  Image 41South Brooklyn Marine Terminal Wind Turbine (from Wind turbines on public display)
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  Image 42The three primary types: VAWT Savonius, HAWT towered; VAWT Darrieus as they appear in operation (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 43San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, California (from Wind farm)
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  Image 44Interior view, Pantigo windmill, East Hampton, New York Historic American Buildings Survey (from Windmill)
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  Image 45Technical drawing of a 1793 Dutch smock mill for land drainage (from Windmill)
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  Image 46Jhimpir Wind Farm, Pakistan (from Wind farm)
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  Image 47Aermotor-style windpump in South Dakota, US (from Windmill)
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  Image 48The Tafila Wind Farm in Jordan, is the first large scale wind farm in the region. (from Wind farm)
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  Image 49Gouda Wind Facility, South Africa (from Wind farm)
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  Image 50Hooper's Mill, Margate, Kent, an eighteenth-century European horizontal windmill (from Windmill)
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  Image 51Egbert Lievensz van der Poel, Windmill Fire (17th century), National Museum in Kraków (from Windmill)
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  Image 52Part of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, Oregon, United States with a turbine under construction (from Wind farm)
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  Image 53The San Gorgonio Pass wind farm in California, United States (from Wind farm)
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  Image 54The Persian horizontal windmill, the first practical windmill. (from Windmill)
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  Image 55Windpump in far western New South Wales, Australia (from Windmill)
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  Image 56Windshaft, brake wheel, and brake blocks in smock mill d'Admiraal in Amsterdam (from Windmill)
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  Image 57A group of wind turbines in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China (from Windmill)
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  Image 58German physicist Albert Betz had a crucial role in the development of wind turbine technology. Betz's law states that no wind turbine can capture more than 59.3% of the wind's kinetic energy. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 59A windmill in Kotka, Finland in May 1987 (from Windmill)
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  Image 60The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world, with a target capacity of 20,000 MW by 2020. (from Wind farm)
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  Image 61Windmill in Kuremaa, Estonia (from Windmill)
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  Image 62Roscoe Wind Farm, an onshore wind farm, in West Texas (from Wind farm)
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  Image 63Cross section of a post mill (from Windmill)
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  Image 64An aerial view of Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest onshore wind farm in the UK and second-largest in Europe (from Wind farm)
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  Image 65A wind turbine in Huikku, Hailuoto, Finland (from Windmill)
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  Image 66In the U.S. cats kill on the order of 10,000 times as many birds as wind turbines. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 67Windmill in the Azores islands, Portugal. (from Windmill)
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  Image 68The windmills at Kinderdijk in the village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (from Windmill)
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  Image 69A wind farm in a mountainous area in Galicia, Spain (from Wind farm)
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  Image 70The first automatically operated wind turbine, built in Cleveland in 1887 by Charles F. Brush. It was 60 feet (18 m) tall, weighed 4 tons (3.6 metric tonnes) and powered a 12 kW generator. (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 71Inside view of a wind turbine tower, showing the tendon cables (from Wind turbine)
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  Image 72Thorntonbank Wind Farm, using REpower 5M 5 MW turbines in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium (from Wind turbine)

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List articles

• List of onshore wind farms
• Lists of wind farms by country
• List of wind farms in Australia
• List of wind farms in Canada
• List of wind farms in China
• List of wind farms in Denmark
• List of wind farms in India
• List of wind farms in Iran
• List of wind farms in the Republic of Ireland
• List of wind farms in Japan
• List of wind farms in Jordan
• List of wind farms in Kosovo
• List of wind farms in Latvia
• List of wind farms in Lithuania
• List of wind farms in Morocco
• List of wind farms in the Philippines
• List of wind farms in Romania
• List of wind farms in South Africa
• List of wind farms in Sri Lanka
• List of wind farms in Sweden
• List of wind farms in Turkey
• List of wind farms in the United Kingdom
• List of wind farms in the United States
• List of wind farms in Uruguay

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• List of offshore wind farms
• List of offshore wind farms in China
• List of offshore wind farms in Denmark
• List of offshore wind farms in Germany
• List of offshore wind farms in Japan
• List of offshore wind farms in the Netherlands
• List of offshore wind farms in Sweden
• List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom
• List of offshore wind farms in the United States

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• Glossary of mill machinery
• List of windmills

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