The 
Wind Generator is a Mekanism generator that makes power from height alone, with no fuel and no need for daylight. It gives between 24 and 192 FE/t (60 to 480 J/t) depending on how high it stands, so build it as high as you can. You might hear it called a wind turbine, though it’s a single block, not a multiblock like the Industrial Turbine.
It runs through the night and in any weather, as long as the top of it has open sky above. That makes it the usual step after the 
Heat Generator, as a few of them on a hill will run your early machines without you having to feed them anything.
How to Make It
You’ll need 3 
Osmium Ingots, an 
Infused Alloy, 2 
Energy Tablets and a 
Basic Control Circuit. The Infused Alloy and the circuit both come out of the 
Metallurgic Infuser, so this is the first generator that needs a machine running before it can be crafted.
The generator is 5 blocks tall once it’s placed, as the base has a mast and blades above it. It won’t go down if any of the four blocks above the base are taken up, so you’ll want to clear the space before placing it.
How It Works
What the Wind Generator looks at is the height of its top block, which is four blocks above the base. That block has to be able to see the sky and can’t be sitting in Water, otherwise the screen will show Sky blocked and it makes nothing at all.
There’s no day or weather check on it, so it’ll give the same output at midnight in a storm as it does at noon. Other Wind Generators nearby don’t slow it down either, which means they can be packed side by side on a platform.
Power leaves through the front and the bottom of the base, and it’s pushed out without any setting up. A Universal Cable run underneath a row of them is the tidy way to collect it, and each one holds 80,000 FE of its own before it stops.
Output by Height
The output starts at 24 FE/t when the top block is at Y 24 or lower, and it’ll climb by a little over half an FE for every block above that. It tops out at 192 FE/t with the top block at Y 319, which is the build limit, so the base would be at Y 315.
| Height of the Base | Output |
|---|---|
| Y 20 or lower | 24 FE/t |
| Y 63 (sea level) | 48.4 FE/t |
| Y 100 | 69.2 FE/t |
| Y 128 | 85.2 FE/t |
| Y 200 | 126.4 FE/t |
| Y 256 | 158.4 FE/t |
| Y 315 (the highest it can go) | 192 FE/t |
So a generator at sea level already beats a Heat Generator burning 
Coal, which makes 44.8 FE/t, and one at Y 200 is worth nearly three of them. Older guides say Y 128 gives the maximum, but that’s less than half of what it’ll make at the build limit.
For example, four Wind Generators on a pillar at Y 250 will make more than six of them at Y 100. It’s worth carrying the power down with a single line of cable, or with an Energy Cube you swap out by hand.
Other dimensions
Since it needs to see the sky, it can’t be used underground, and it shouldn’t run in the Nether or the End as neither has a sky to see. Modpacks are able to switch wind off for a dimension as well, in which case the screen will say No wind, although nothing is blocked by default.
Upgrades and Automation
Like every Mekanism generator, it’ll only take a 
Muffling Upgrade, which quiets the blades. There’s no way to speed one up with 
Speed Upgrades, so more output always means more height or more generators.
It has a redstone control setting and a slot that will charge an item like an Energy Tablet from its buffer. When you want daytime power closer to the ground, the 
Solar Generator is the other fuel-free option, although it makes less.
FAQ
The higher the better, as the output keeps rising all the way to the build limit. A base at Y 315 gives the full 192 FE/t, whereas Y 128 only gives about 85 FE/t and sea level gives around 48. Anything below Y 20 will sit at the minimum of 24 FE/t.
The block at the very top of the generator, four above the base, has to see open sky and can’t be inside Water. A roof, a tree or an overhang above it will stop it, as will placing it in a cave, so move it out into the open or clear what’s above.
They do, as the only things they check are height and open sky. Time of day and weather aren’t looked at, so the output stays the same through the night and during storms, which is the main reason to pick them over Solar Generators early on.
It makes between 24 and 192 FE/t, which is 60 to 480 J/t, and where it lands depends only on height. At sea level you’ll get about 48 FE/t from each one, and it gains a little over half an FE for every block higher that it’s built.
