Installing a wind turbineWhy use wind power?

Wind turbines harness natural wind power to produce electricity

Wind power is plentiful, renewable and reduces greenhouse gas emissions when used instead of electricity generated from fossil fuels.

We’re all being urged to reduce carbon emissions, so harnessing wind power to create energy is an attractive option. Wind power is the world’s fastest growing renewable energy sector. 

In the UK, wind energy has overtaken hydropower to become the largest renewable generation source, contributing 2.2% of the UK’s electricity supply. Onshore wind farms make up the majority of this.

Harnessing wind power

Wind turbines produce electricity by harnessing the natural power of the wind to drive a generator.

Wind-derived electrical power comes from two main sources, industrial wind farms (onshore and offshore) and domestic small-scale wind turbines installed by home owners.

Wind farms

According to the British Wind Energy Association, the UK has 268 operational wind farms. Wind farms can be located either onshore or offshore.

Work on the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the Kent coastline, known as the London Array project, is currently under way. When complete in 2012, the wind farm will consist of 341 turbines and supply enough power for around 750,000 homes – a quarter of the population of Greater London.

The UK is also home to Europe’s largest onshore wind farm. The Whitelee wind farm in Scotland consists of 140 turbines, enough to power over 180,000 homes.

Domestic wind turbines

The UK's largest study into wind turbines, conducted by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), has shown that very few UK locations are suitable for home wind turbine placement – find out more about the EST's wind turbine field test results here. 

However if your location is suitable and you decide to go ahead and install a domestic wind turbine, grants of up to £2,500 per property are available from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme towards the cost of installing a certified wind turbine by an approved installer. Find out how to apply in our energy grants guide.

Which? also bought and installed a domestic wind turbine, the Windsave WS1000, to see how it performed over a year- see the Which? wind turbine test page in this guide for the results.

Wind energy is plentiful, renewable and leaves no waste products

Advantages of wind power

• Electricity generated by the wind does not emit CO2 or leave any waste products. Wind is also an infinite resource that cannot be exhausted.
• A small home wind turbine – when installed properly and in the right location – can cut reliance on traditional fossil fuel resources by using the power of the wind to create electricity.
• Small domestic wind turbines can potentially provide 30 to 35% of an average home’s electricity needs, and pay for themselves in 8-10 years. This is a much quicker payback than most solar-power generated electricity systems. Successful performance, however, depends on the position and location of the wind turbine.
• Wind turbines rely on simple mechanical processes. Once the wind turbine is up and running there are few running costs.
• Large-scale wind farms can be built at sea as well as on land to exploit the UK and surrounding seas’ abundant wind flow without cluttering the landscape.

Disadvantages of wind power

• The EST's study into wind turbines concluded that fewer sites than previously predicted were suitable to install the technology, and homeowners should install an anemometer (a wind gauge) for at least three months to determine the average wind speed for the location before considering a wind turbine. According to the EST, a suitable site will have a minimum average wind speed of 6m/s – the vast majority of UK households have an average wind speed of less than this.
• Both small- and large-scale wind energy installations may require planning permission - contact your council before you start work.
• Wind turbine costs are high. Smaller roof-mounted turbines start from around £1,500, ranging up to £25,000 for a mast-mounted model. Large-scale wind farms also require a significant start-up investment from industry.
• The amount of electricity generated is dependent on the speed and direction of the wind. The wind speed itself depends on a number of factors, such as location within the UK, height of the turbine and nearby obstructions.
• Many people dislike the appearance and sound of wind turbines in the landscape, although noise pollution is less significant for micro-wind turbines.
• Anti-wind farm groups argue that wind farms damage habitats and harm birds and marine ecology (see the Wind farms section for more).
• Wind is an unpredictable energy source and requires the back up of more traditional and polluting methods of energy generation.