Editing Renewable energy (section)

=== Wind power ===
{{Main|Wind power|Wind power by country}}
[[File:Wind energy generation by region, OWID.svg|thumb|300px|Wind energy generation by region over time<ref>{{cite web |title=Wind energy generation by region |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wind-energy-consumption-by-region |website=Our World in Data |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-date=10 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310222609/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wind-energy-consumption-by-region |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Pretty flamingos - geograph.org.uk - 578705.jpg|thumb|[[Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm|Burbo]], [[North West England|NW-England]]]]
[[File:Fentonwindpark1.jpg|thumb|Sunrise at the [[Fenton Wind Farm]] in Minnesota, United States]]
{| class="wikitable"
! Installed capacity and other key design parameters
! Value and year
|-
| Global electricity power generation capacity || 1017.2 GW (2023){{sfn|IRENA|2024|p=14}}
|-
| Global electricity power generation capacity annual growth rate || 13% (2014-2023)<ref>{{harvnb|IRENA|2024|p=14}}. Note: Compound annual growth rate 2014-2023.</ref>
|-
| Share of global electricity generation || 7.8% (2023)<ref name="Ember 2024" />
|-
| Levelized cost per megawatt hour || Land-based wind: USD 30.165 (2019){{sfn|NREL ATB|2021|loc=Land-Based Wind}}
|-
| Primary technology || [[Wind turbine]], [[windmill]]
|-
| Main applications || Electricity, pumping water ([[windpump]])
|}Humans have harnessed wind energy since at least 3500 BC. Until the 20th century, it was primarily used to power ships, windmills and water pumps. Today, the vast majority of wind power is used to generate electricity using wind turbines.<ref name=":2" /> Modern utility-scale wind turbines range from around 600&nbsp;kW to 9 MW of rated power. The power available from the wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases up to the maximum output for the particular turbine.<ref name="EWEA">{{cite web | title = Analysis of Wind Energy in the EU-25 | publisher = European Wind Energy Association | url = http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/WETF/Facts_Summary.pdf | access-date = 11 March 2007 | archive-date = 12 March 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070312221118/http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/WETF/Facts_Summary.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as [[Offshore wind power|offshore]] and high-altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind farms.

Wind-generated electricity met nearly 4% of global electricity demand in 2015, with nearly 63&nbsp;GW of new wind power capacity installed. Wind energy was the leading source of new capacity in Europe, the US and Canada, and the second largest in China. In Denmark, wind energy met more than 40% of its electricity demand while Ireland, Portugal and [[Renewable energy in Spain|Spain]] each met nearly 20%.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Electricity – from other renewable sources - The World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/electricity-from-other-renewable-sources|access-date=2021-10-27|website=www.cia.gov|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027205510/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/electricity-from-other-renewable-sources|url-status=live}}</ref>

Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand, assuming all practical barriers needed were overcome. This would require wind turbines to be installed over large areas, particularly in areas of higher wind resources, such as offshore, and likely also industrial use of new types of VAWT turbines in addition to the horizontal axis units currently in use. As offshore wind speeds average ~90% greater than that of land, offshore resources can contribute substantially more energy than land-stationed turbines.<ref>"Offshore stations experience mean wind speeds at 80 m that are 90% greater than over land on average." [http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html Evaluation of global wind power] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525114202/http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html |date=25 May 2008 }} "Overall, the researchers calculated winds at 80 meters [300 feet] above [[sea level]] traveled over the ocean at approximately 8.6 meters per second and at nearly 4.5 meters per second over land [20 and 10 miles per hour, respectively]." [http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2005/2005-05-17-09.asp#anchor6 Global Wind Map Shows Best Wind Farm Locations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050524075533/http://ens-newswire.com/ens/may2005/2005-05-17-09.asp#anchor6 |date=24 May 2005 }}. Retrieved 30 January 2006.</ref>

Investments in wind technologies reached USD 161 billion in 2020, with onshore wind dominating at 80% of total investments from 2013 to 2022. Offshore wind investments nearly doubled to USD 41 billion between 2019 and 2020, primarily due to policy incentives in China and expansion in Europe. Global wind capacity increased by 557 GW between 2013 and 2021, with capacity additions increasing by an average of 19% each year.<ref name=":1" />