The modern wind farm may consist of as many as 100-500 wind turbines connected to the electric transmission grid. Wind turbines commonly begin to produce power at a wind speed of 10-12 miles per hour. Wind plants produce electricity only when the wind blows, so if the wind is not blowing, the plant is not producing electricity. For this reason, wind is called an intermittent resource . Because wind follows patterns that can be predicted, and because particular locations have more reliable winds and will produce power more regularly, the value of wind for meeting consumer demand can be significant.
Wind is a renewable energy source.
Because wind is a product of the sun shining on the earth and the earth s atmosphere, it is a resource that will not be depleted by tapping it for electricity generation. Wind energy is available for electricity generation in locations where the average wind speeds are great enough to drive the fields of wind turbines. While the ability of wind technology to produce electricity economically at lower wind speeds is improving, areas where average wind speeds exceed 12 miles per hour are currently the most economic locations. There are some environmental issues involved in using wind to produce electricity Wind plants produce no air pollution. They use no water, and there is no need to tear up the land to extract the resource that produces wind power.