Development of wind energy in the world

In recent years, wind energy has become a truly booming industry of modern "clean" or, as it is called, "green" energy. The means of converting the kinetic energy of the wind flow into mechanical, thermal and electrical forms of energy occupy an increasing share in the global energy industry.

The reserves of this energy are inexhaustible, since the wind arises as a result of the action of the sun, and the level of harmful emissions from this generation is practically zero. The volume of emissions of harmful substances and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when burning traditional fuels contributes to climate change and negatively affects human health. Thus, there is a trend towards a successful and growing development of renewable sources of "clean" energy.

The growing dependence of many countries around the world on energy imports, combined with political instability and frequent armed conflicts in exporting countries, creates risks to the energy security of importing countries.This prompts their governments to think about the early development and use of alternative energy sources.

According to the World Wind Energy Council, the total installed capacity of wind power plants (HP) by the beginning of 2015 had already reached 369 GW. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2013, the electricity production from wind turbines in the world is 521.3 billion kilowatt hours, which corresponds to 2.3% of the total world electricity production.

The development of wind turbine technology is supported by a thirty-year industry development path. Modern cheap and efficient materials are now used and the capacity of the unit has also increased. wind power plants… It all goes to the fact that production costs are reduced and the competitiveness of wind technology is increased.

Thus, one of the lowest indicators of the cost of electricity production among alternative types of production is characterized by land-based wind turbines, where the main part of capital costs falls only on the production, transportation and installation of wind turbines.

The situation is different with offshore wind turbines, where grid connections are technically complex. Permits are also required for offshore wind turbines. These characteristics are always associated with significant costs due to the special regulation of the use of marine territories.

The Alta Wind Energy Center in the Tehachapi Mountains, California, USA, with a design capacity of 1.55 GW, as of December 2014, already has an installed capacity of 1.32 GW, making this one of the most powerful power plants installed on land. wind farms around the world and in the US.Full design capacity is planned to be reached by the end of 2015. Plans to maximize the installed capacity are 3 GW for this wind farm.

The London Array is the largest offshore wind farm in the world with a capacity of 630 MW. It is located on the coast of Kent and Essex at the mouth of the Thames, 20 km from the British coast. 175 wind turbines have been installed here. The station was built at a cost of $2.3 billion and was commissioned at full design capacity in July 2013.

Currently, most of the power generated by wind turbines (38.8%) falls on the countries of Europe, 34.5% falls on the countries of Asia, the share of North America is 23.9%. Significantly more - a small proportion of wind energy is reported by Latin American and Caribbean countries (only 1.2%).

In the countries of the Pacific region, this indicator is at the level of 1.1%, and in the countries of Africa and the Middle East region - 0.4%. The majority of the world's installed wind turbine capacity is in five countries: the US, China, Germany, India and Spain, which account for 73.6%.

Besides hydropower, wind power is currently the most developed renewable energy industry in the world.