Have you ever seen a wind farm or a wind turbine? A wind turbine is like a giant fan. When the wind sets it spinning, it generates electricity. Wind turbines can range in size from small ones installed on large yachts and small buildings, to giant ones like those used on wind farms.
A wind farm is a set of wind turbines that are linked together to supply electricity to a local community or to an electricity grid for a larger population. Many are located along coastlines where the winds are strong. The Woolnorth wind farm in Tasmania is an example of this.
Wind turbines transform the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. The main steps are: STEP 1: Moving air pushes against the blades of the turbine, which are tilted to the direction of the wind. This makes the blades spin. In the process, some of the kinetic energy of the moving air is transformed into the mechanical energy of the spinning blades. (The wind still has some kinetic energy as it flows away from the turbine.) STEP 2: The shafts and the gears inside the gear box transfer the mechanical energy of the turbine to the generator. (The gears make the drive shaft to the generator spin faster than the shaft connected to the blade hub.) STEP 3: The generator transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy.