Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity. Click on the link below to see how a wind. Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. As of 2024, hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 1,136 gigawatts of power, with 117 GW added each year. The difference in air pressure across the two sides.