This article presents a general up‐to‐date review of the aerodynamics of wind turbine technology. The article kicks off with the history of wind energy applications, then the current status of worldwide wind energy capacity is reviewed. The principles of rapid techniques used in aerodynamic and acoustic wind turbine design, such as blade element/momentum (BEM) and dynamic wake effect, are provided. Insight into more advanced methods such as vortex wake theory and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is also given. The article then moves on to analysis of the structure of a wind turbine, with focus on the more common horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). This is followed by discussion of some hot research topics such as fluid–structure interaction (FSI) and unsteady aerodynamic factors. Recent studies on wind turbine control systems and wind farms are briefly reviewed. To summarize in one sentence, wind power has a bright future, but in order to fulfill its potential as a substantial source of renewable energy, it still has some way to go.