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Insights into wind sites: Critically assessing the innovation, cost, and performance dynamics of global wind energy development

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  • Enevoldsen, Peter
  • Valentine, Scott Victor
  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.

Abstract

Reliable empirical data on the siting characteristics and operational performance of wind farms are scarce. Knowing more about the technical characteristics of wind farms provides insight into the business mindset of wind farm developers, which can be useful for policymakers or researchers who are intent on designing policy in a way to optimize wind farm investment by creating better alignment between the investment patterns sought by developers and government support designed to attract investment. This study draws on a unique dataset from 32 wind farms, 20 onshore and 12 in forested areas with a total of more than 2.5 GW installed wind capacity to explore development patterns. The paper examines four hypotheses related to characteristics of wind farms in emerging markets and investigating how project delays and progressive technological enhancements shape wind farm development. In this paper, we explain these results and conclude by extracting lessons from this analysis for creating wind power policy better aligned with developers’ interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Enevoldsen, Peter & Valentine, Scott Victor & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2018. "Insights into wind sites: Critically assessing the innovation, cost, and performance dynamics of global wind energy development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-7.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:120:y:2018:i:c:p:1-7
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.05.022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Enevoldsen, Peter & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2016. "Examining the social acceptance of wind energy: Practical guidelines for onshore wind project development in France," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 178-184.
    2. Ibenholt, Karin, 2002. "Explaining learning curves for wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(13), pages 1181-1189, October.
    3. Enevoldsen, Peter, 2016. "Onshore wind energy in Northern European forests: Reviewing the risks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1251-1262.
    4. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Enevoldsen, Peter, 2015. "One style to build them all: Corporate culture and innovation in the offshore wind industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 402-415.
    5. Qiu, Yueming & Anadon, Laura D., 2012. "The price of wind power in China during its expansion: Technology adoption, learning-by-doing, economies of scale, and manufacturing localization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 772-785.
    6. Blanco, María Isabel, 2009. "The economics of wind energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1372-1382, August.
    7. Jefferson, Michael, 2008. "Accelerating the transition to sustainable energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4116-4125, November.
    8. Jamil Khan, 2003. "Wind power planning in three Swedish municipalities," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 563-581.
    9. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Walter, Götz, 2018. "Major hydropower states, sustainable development, and energy security: Insights from a preliminary cross-comparative assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1074-1082.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Akintayo T. Abolude & Wen Zhou & Akintomide Afolayan Akinsanola, 2020. "Evaluation and Projections of Wind Power Resources over China for the Energy Industry Using CMIP5 Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Lerche, J. & Lorentzen, S. & Enevoldsen, P. & Neve, H.H., 2022. "The impact of COVID -19 on offshore wind project productivity – A case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Rahmatian, Mohammad Ali & Hashemi Tari, Pooyan & Mojaddam, Mohammad & Majidi, Sahand, 2022. "Numerical and experimental study of the ducted diffuser effect on improving the aerodynamic performance of a micro horizontal axis wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Enevoldsen, Peter & Permien, Finn-Hendrik & Bakhtaoui, Ines & Krauland, Anna-Katharina von & Jacobson, Mark Z. & Xydis, George & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Valentine, Scott V. & Luecht, Daniel & Oxley, G, 2019. "How much wind power potential does europe have? Examining european wind power potential with an enhanced socio-technical atlas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1092-1100.
    5. Ke Song & Huiting Huan & Yuchi Kang, 2022. "Aerodynamic Performance and Wake Characteristics Analysis of Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine Rotors with Different Blade Angle," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Pan, Lin & Wang, Xudong, 2020. "Variable pitch control on direct-driven PMSG for offshore wind turbine using Repetitive-TS fuzzy PID control," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 221-237.
    7. Ye, Jianjun & Cheng, Yanglin & Xie, Junlong & Huang, Xiaohong & Zhang, Yuan & Hu, Siyao & Salem, Shehab & Wu, Jiejun, 2020. "Effects of divergent angle on the flow behaviors in low speed wind accelerating ducts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1292-1301.

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