Wind farms of the world
Contenido
La energía eólica instalada en el mundo aumentó hasta los 906 GW en 2022, siendo los principales mercados del mundo. China abandera la clasificación de países por potencia terrestre instalada con un 40 % de la potencia mundial, seguida de Estados Unidos con un 17 %, Alemania con un 7 %, la India con un 5 % y España con un 4 %.[9].
En cuanto a la potencia marina, en 2022, China acumuló un 48 % de la potencia mundial, seguida de Reino Unido con un 22 % y Alemania con un 13 %.
El mayor parque eólico del mundo se encuentra situado en el mar del Norte, a 89 km de Reino Unido. El Hornsea es un parque eólico marino desarrollado en dos fases con una capacidad total de 2500MW (datos 2023). La fase 2 de este parque , de 1,3GW de capacidad, cuenta con 165 aerogeneradores que elevan sus palas hasta los 200 metros por encima del nivel del mar. El parque eólico Hornsea puede proporcionar energía a 2,5 millones de hogares en Reino Unido.[10][11].
En China se encuentran varios parques eólicos terrestres con capacidad de 1000MW cada uno de ellos: el primero de ellos situados en Toahemu, Mongolia; y el segundo de ellos ubicado en la isla de Hainan (datos de 2023).[12].
En Estados Unidos, el parque eólico de Roscoe, en Texas, cuenta con más de 600 turbinas eólicas y una capacidad de producción de 781MW.[13].
Europe
The European Union has ambitious objectives in terms of reducing carbon emissions and since 2008 it has been implementing measures to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases and increase the share of renewable energy where wind energy plays a fundamental role. In September 2022, the European Parliament set the goal of achieving 45% energy production based on renewable sources by 2030.[14].
The policies adopted by European government institutions have promoted the development of renewable energy and wind energy. Among the main wind energy producing countries in 2022 worldwide, we find two European countries: Germany and Spain in third and fifth place respectively [9].
In the field of offshore wind energy production, the United Kingdom generates 22% of the world's power thanks to its network of wind farms located in the North Sea.[15].
Germany occupies third place in the ranking of countries producing onshore wind energy (2022 data) and until 2021 it was the third country with the highest number of wind turbines housed in its territory, after China and the United States[16].
According to data from 2024, the largest operational onshore wind farms in Europe are the Swedish Markbygden wind farm, capable of generating, thanks to its 179 turbines, a nominal power greater than 650MW[17] and the Adamdel wind farm, in Romania, with a capacity of 600MW.[18].
Spain was one of the pioneering European countries in relation to wind farm projects. In 1984, the second wind farm in the entire European territory was built in the area of Alt Empordà, Catalonia, with the aim of demonstrating the usefulness of using wind energy to produce a centralized electrical current. It had five wind turbines, with a power of 24 kilowatts each.[19] Today, this park no longer exists and there are no remains of its wind turbines, demonstrating the reversibility of renewable energies.[20].
In 2023, wind energy was the second source of electricity generation in Spain, covering more than 24% of the country's energy demand with a production of 61,069GWh. With 1,345 installed wind farms offering a power of 29,813MW, Spain is the fifth country in the world in terms of wind power after China, the United States, Germany and India.[21].
In the USSR, the use of wind energy was planned in the early 1920s (the use of wind energy for irrigation systems in the Baku region was mentioned in a letter by V. I. Lenin in April 1921). The first wind power plant in the USSR was built in 1931 in Balaklava. After the Axis invasion against the USSR, it was destroyed during the occupation of the Crimean peninsula by the Axis invaders.[22] In 1951, the "Ural" Electromechanical Factory began mass production of standard wind turbines for collective farms.[23] In 1958, two new models of wind farms were invented: the small VEA-1, weighing 50 kilograms (it was used for a radio) and the powerful VEA-2 (it was used for electric lighting of 250 houses).[24] In the period 1945-1970, more than 40 thousand wind turbines were manufactured in the USSR, most of them were installed in rural areas on state farms and collective farms.[25].
In the early 1980s, a plan was developed in the USSR to build wind power plants to provide power to autonomous facilities in the Far North (the construction of which was to be carried out by military builders).[26] Later, on the bank of the Desná River, in the Vyshgorod district of the kyiv region, an experimental power plant with several wind turbines was built.[27].
America
Argentina has 2.6GW of installed wind power at the end of 2020.[28].
Among the most important parks are:
Brazil had an installed capacity of 22 GW in July 2022[29] (higher than that of the Itaipu Power Plant, at the end of 2021 there were more than 750 wind farms and more than 10,000 wind turbines, equivalent to 10.95% of the installed energy capacity in the country.[30].
In 2022, Colombia had an installed capacity of 510 MW, with the Guajira region being the one with the greatest wind potential.[31].
In March 2022, Chile has installed 3,811MW of wind energy power in projects already in operation that managed to cover 12% of the total energy demand. A study published in 2018 stated that Chile has the potential to produce 44 GW of wind energy.[32].
In 2021, the announcement was made of the construction of a wind farm in the Atacama Desert, with a capacity of 780MW.[33].
Some parks are:
In 2021, Peru has installed a wind energy capacity of 409 MW,[34] being the department of Ica with the most installed power with 42 wind turbines and an installed capacity of 132 MW.[35] It currently has five operational wind farms and two in the pipeline that will be installed in the department of Cajamarca, the latter being the first to be implemented in the Peruvian mountains.[36].
At the end of 2021, Mexico had an installed capacity of 7,154MW, 6.4% of the country's total energy production.
In 1994, the first wind farm in the country, La Venta, came into operation, located on the isthmus of Tehuantepec and with a capacity, at that time, of 1,125 MW.[37].
In Mexico there is the largest wind farm in Latin America, located on the isthmus of Tehuantepec in a town called La Ventosa "La Ventosa (Mexico)"), it was built by the Mexican cement company Cemex, with the support of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). The park is named after Eurus.").
On March 14, 2012, the Arriaga Wind Farm was inaugurated with 16 wind turbines, the first of its kind in the state of Chiapas.
The Los Cocos Wind Farm, built in the community of Juancho, Pedernales, is the first in the country with an initial capacity of 25MW, coming from 14 wind turbines. Currently the park has a capacity of more than 70MW [38].
Two other wind energy projects, one in Baní (south-central area) of 34 MW, and another in Montecristi (northeast) of 50 MW, are expected to come into operation, resulting in 168 MW derived from wind energy.
In Ecuador, hydropower is the most used, but in Loja "Loja (Ecuador)") and in Galapagos mainly this technology combines the European Onshore and the American AG 4.0 which are located in three wind farms in Loja "Loja (Ecuador)") (Villonaco), Galapagos (San Cristóbal Island (Cerro Tropezón) and Baltra Island).
Some of the largest wind farms in the world are located in the United States.