How do wind power plants work?

When the wind, a natural form of energy, is capable of creating electricity or a mechanical force, this is wind power. Find out how wind farms work, those devices that are capable of turning the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy and supplying increasing numbers of homes with clean, renewable energy.

In line with windmills, wind turbines, (also called wind generators) use the power of the wind which they turn into electricity. The speed of the wind turns the blades of a rotor (between 10 and 25 turns per minute), a source of mechanical energy. The rotor then turns a generator which transforms the mechanical energy into electricity. An electric motor orientates the nacelle so that its rotor is positioned facing into the wind. Each turbine is made up of a mast of between 20 and 100 m according to the power of the machines. The mast supports the rotor, usually equipped with three blades, and the nacelle which contains the generator and electrical and mechanical back-up.