ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 considered the wind; now we study the technology for harnessing the resource for mechanical work (e.g. water pumping) and for electricity (often just called ‘power’). Wind turbine electricity generators, abbreviated to ‘wind turbines’, are the dominant machines, manufactured worldwide with capacities ranging from tens of watts to approaching ten megawatts, with diameters of about 1 m to about 150 m. Nevertheless, in some areas, mechanical-only machines are still vital for water pumping. Today wind turbines are accepted as ‘mainstream power generation’ for the utility grid networks of countries with wind power potential (e.g. in Europe, the USA, and parts of India and China); other countries are steadily increasing their wind power capacity. Smaller wind turbines are common for isolated and autonomous power production.
