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Wind energy is electrical energy that is harnessed from the natural breeze. This is done through the use of windmills and wind turbines. Having turbines spinning at roughly 80m above ground, the turbines generate electricity by constantly cranking a generator
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Wind energy is simply electrical energy harnessed from the wind. Turbines or propellers at the top of windmills or wind turbines, and similar to airfoil wings on planes, these blades are slightly tilted so they spin when a force is going against it. This allows the turbine to spin and power a generator that is usually in the nacelle or underground. More energy can be harvested if the area being covered is larger, in other words, if the blades are longer, the windmill can harvest more energy. Mathematically, the area swept by the blades is directly proportional to the amount of energy being procured (Woodford, 2018, Explain that Stuff)
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Above: a diagram of the internal structure of a wind turbine, labelled with key features such as the blades, gear box, generator, etc.
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The Bald Hills Wind Farm, constructed in 2015 by Senvion Australia Division in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, is one of the most efficient wind energy projects. Despite it being significantly smaller than the largest wind farm in Australia, only having 52 turbines compared to the 140 turbines in Macarthur, Victoria, the Bald Hills project produces 212mW (megawatts) (Senvion, 2017) of electricity a year compared to the 193mW/year (Parkinson, 2017, Renew Economy). Bald Hills also occupies approximately 1,750 hectares of land compared to the 5,500 hectares in Macarthur.
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Above: aerial images of the Bald Hills Wind Farm in South Gippsland, Victoria
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