The paper provides an overview of the historical development of wind energy technology and discusses the current world-wide status of grid-connected as well as stand-alone wind power generation. During the last decade of the twentieth century, grid-connected world-wide wind capacity has doubled approximately every three years. Due to the fast market development, wind turbine technology has experienced an important evolution over time. An overview of the different design approaches is given and issues like power grid integration, economics, environmental impact and special system applications, such as offshore wind energy, are discussed. Due to the complexity of the wind energy technology, however, this paper mainly aims at presenting a brief overview of the relevant wind turbine and wind project issues. Therefore, detailed information to further readings and related organisations is provided. This paper is an updated version of the article ‘Wind Energy Technology and Current Status: A Review’, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 4/2000, pp. 315–374. This update was requested by Elsevier due to the large interest in wind power.