The apparatus includes a wind turbine system for the collection of wind energy and the conversion thereof through staged-compression into highly compressed gas. The highly compressed gas is routed to a central tank, and then expanded into a plurality of concentric ring tanks, each storing gas at successively lower pressures. The cooling resulting from this expansion is utilized to cool hot compressed gas from an intermediate line of gas compressors, increasing the efficiency of the following compressors. This absorption of heat also improves the efficiency of the gas turbines driving electrical generators. The gas compressor in each wind turbine is located near ground level, and driven by a vertical shaft passing through the wind turbine support tower. One embodiment has conventional radially extending blades, and another embodiment has ducted blades to withstand higher winds. Both ground mounted and deep water adaptions for the wind turbines are disclosed.