Top 10 Things You Didnt Know About Wind Power (Intermediate)

Sharpen your understanding of wind! This article is part of the Energy.gov series spotlighting the "Top Things You Didn't Know About Energy."

• Humans have tapped into wind power for centuries. Early windmills used wind to crush grain or pump water. Now, modern wind turbines harness wind to generate electricity. Learn about the mechanics of a wind turbine.

• Today's wind turbines are intricate machines compared to the traditional prairie windmill, boasting up to 8,000 different components.

• Wind turbines are sizable, with blades averaging 210 feet and towers reaching over 320 feet—taller than the Statue of Liberty. The average capacity of utility-scale wind turbines installed in 2022 was 3.2 megawatts (MW), a 7% increase from the previous year.

• Increased wind speeds equal more electricity, prompting taller wind turbines. Explore the Energy Department’s wind resource maps to find average wind speeds and discover opportunities for taller turbines in a report from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

• Many components of U.S.-installed wind turbines are made domestically, with over 500 wind-related manufacturing facilities nationwide. The U.S. wind industry employs more than 125,000 people, including 23,543 in manufacturing and 45,088 in construction.

• Offshore wind offers a significant opportunity for powering densely populated coastal cities. Small projects are active off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia, with numerous larger projects in development. Explore what the Energy Department is doing to advance offshore wind in the United States.

• Utility-scale wind power (from turbines over 100 kilowatts) is operational in 42 states. At the end of 2022, 35 states, plus Puerto Rico, had over 100 MW of wind capacity, with 23 exceeding 1 gigawatt (GW), 19 above 2 GW, and 17 over 3 GW. Distributed wind is present in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• The United States has installed over 144,000 megawatts of wind capacity, making it the largest renewable energy source in the country. In 2022, the U.S. wind industry added over 8,500 MW of new capacity, representing a $12 billion investment.

• Wind energy is cost-effective, with prices for power contracts signed in recent years ranging from 1.5–4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

• Wind energy contributes to over 20% of total electricity generation in 12 states, exceeding 50% in Iowa and South Dakota, and surpassing 30% in Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Nebraska. Overall, wind energy supplied more than 10% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2022.