Global Wind Day, organised by the Gloabel Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), takes place on 15 June every year to promote wind energy to the public.
The event has expanded in the six years it has been running. This year Iran joined for the first time, hosting a day of seminars.
"It's very important to have countries like Iran joining Global Wind Day because if more countries are involved it means we can learn about more examples of the different issues affecting the wind industry around the world," a GWEC spokesperson told Windpower Monthly.
Iran's seminars in Tehran were organised to educate the public on the country's fledgling wind industry. Currently it has a little over 100MW in wind capacity, mostly comprised of Vestas turbines smaller than 660kW. In October, the Iranian Wind Energy Association announced plans to install up to 600MW as the country looks to generate 1.5% of its energy from renewables by 2016.
The seminars were held by experts from the country's wind industry including the Iran Renewable Energy Organisation (SUNA) and the Sharif University of Technology.
The annual event has previously been very European-focused, according to GWEC, but with more countries in other continents now holding events it is becoming a truly global event.
"The value of Global Wind Day is that is close to people. It is the first year EWEA and GWEC have given the power to local organisations," the spokesperson said.
This year's events in Europe focused on energy independence following recent events in Ukraine, which has left the country facing an energy supply crisis. The organisers launched a campaign announcing that Europeans spend the equivalent of two euros a day importing fossil fuels and asked supporters to suggest better ways to spend the money.
GWEC also called on China to get involved in Global Wind Day: "The country we really want to get on board is China. They are a really big, powerful wind leader," said the spokesperson.
A range of events took place across the globe, including Estonia, where a competition was held to design artwork to be painted on to a turbine at the 24MW Viru-Nigula project, eastern Estonia. You can see a video of the winning design being applied to the tower here.
