Wind Energy

Wind is used to produce electricity by converting the kinetic energy of air in motion into electricity. In modern wind turbines, wind rotates the rotor blades, which convert kinetic energy into rotational energy. This rotational energy is transferred by a shaft which to the generator, thereby producing electrical energy.

Wind power has grown rapidly since 2000, driven by R&D, supportive policies and falling costs. Global installed wind generation capacity – both onshore and offshore – has increased by a factor of 98 in the past two decades, jumping from 7.5 GW in 1997 to some 733 GW by 2018 according to IRENA’s data. Onshore wind capacity grew from 178 GW in 2010 to 699 GW in 2020, while offshore wind has grown proportionately more, but from a lower base, from 3.1 GW in 2010 to 34.4 GW in 2020. Production of wind power increased by a factor of 5.2 between 2009 and 2019 to reach 1412 TWh.

Both onshore and offshore wind still have tremendous potential for greater deployment and improvement, globally.

Wind turbine capacity has increased over time. In 1985, typical turbines had a rated capacity of 0.05 MW and a rotor diameter of 15 metres. Today’s new wind power projects have a turbine capacity in the 3-4 MW range onshore and 8-12 MW offshore. 

As the technology has improved and scaled up, costs have fallen and capacity factors have risen. Between 2010 and 2020, the global weighted-average levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) of onshore wind fell by 56%, from USD 0.089/kWh to USD 0.039/kWh. Over the same period, the LCOE of newly commissioned offshore wind projects fell by around half (48%).