New materials, and smart technologies (such as real-time wind monitoring) mean that the turbines of today can generate a higher capacity of electricity compared to turbines 30 years ago.
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00:00When you look at wind turbines 20 years ago as compared to today, a lot more has changed than you think.
00:05A modern wind turbine is capable of generating 4 to 5.5 megawatts of electrical energy.
00:11At full power, that's enough clean energy to power 3,500 homes.
00:16Multiply this by the total number of turbines at a wind farm and you start to see just how much power these farms can generate.
00:23In 2009, the iPad wasn't invented and the DVD was still the best way to watch a movie at home.
00:29And Acciona Energia's wind farm in Warburg, Victoria had just finished construction.
00:34Warburg Wind Farm has 128 turbines, each with 109 meter blade tip height and a 1.5 megawatt capacity, enough to power 130,000 homes.
00:46Compare that to McIntyre Wind Farm in Queensland with 34 more turbines, each two times larger and capable of generating four times the megawatt, enough to power 700,000 homes.
00:58That's the entire Gold Coast.
01:00That means between 2009 and 2024, a single turbine's capacity has grown 400% in just 15 years.
01:08For us, that's one of the most exciting things about wind energy.
01:12As the technology evolves and develops, it begins to leave old coal burning alternatives further and further behind.