The blades of a large generator

How big is a wind turbine blade?

Turbine blades vary in size, but a typical modern land-based wind turbine has blades of over 170 feet (52 meters). The largest turbine is GE's Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, with blades 351 feet long (107 meters) – about the same length as a football field. When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases.

What is a rotor blade in a wind turbine?

The rotor blades are the three (usually three) long thin blades that attach to the hub of the nacelle. These blades are designed to capture the kinetic energy in the wind as it passes, and convert it into rotational energy. The largest wind turbines being manufactured in the world (as of 2021) are 15MW turbines.

Why do wind turbines have larger blades?

Larger blades allow wind turbines to capture more energy from the wind, increasing their overall efficiency. This means that fewer turbines are needed to produce the same amount of energy, reducing the cost of wind farm construction and maintenance.

How does a wind turbine lift a blade?

But in one simplified explanation of lift, when wind travels over the rounded, downwind face of the blade, it has to move faster to reach the end of the blade in time to meet the wind travelling over the flat, upwind face of the blade (facing the direction from which the wind is blowing).

What is the average rotor diameter of a wind turbine?

In 2023, the average rotor diameter of newly-installed wind turbines was over 133.8 meters (~438 feet)—longer than a football field, or about as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Larger rotor diameters allow wind turbines to sweep more area, capture more wind, and produce more electricity.

What are wind turbine blades made of?

To withstand the very high stresses they experience, wind turbine blades are made from modern composite materials like carbon fibre or glass fibre to give the most amount of strength and rigidity for the least amount of weight.