Russell McKenna, Johan Lilliestam, Heidi U. Heinrichs, Jann Weinand, Johannes Schmidt, Iain Staffell, Andrea N. Hahmann, Peter Burgherr, Arne Burdack, Monika Bucha, Ruihong Chen, Michael Klingler, Paul Lehmann, Jens Lowitzsch, Riccardo Novo, James Price, Romain Sacchi, Patrick Scherhaufer, Eva M. Schöll, Piero Visconti, Paola Velasco-Herrejón, Marianne Zeyringer, Luis Ramirez Camargo.
Summary. Wind power accounts for 7.5% of global electricity generation in 2022 and is one of the cheapest forms of low-carbon electricity. Although fully commercial, many challenges remain in achieving the required scale-up, relating to integrating wind farms into wider technical, economic, social and natural systems. We review the main challenges, outline existing solutions and propose future research needed to overcome existing problems. Whilst the techno-economic challenges, grid and market integration, are seen as significant obstacles to scaling up wind power, the field is replete with solutions. In many countries, planning and permitting are immediate barriers to wind power deployment; whilst solutions are emerging in the EU and several countries, the effectiveness and long-term acceptance of fast-track permissions and go-to areas remains to be seen. Environmental impacts on wildlife and recycling challenges are rising issues, for which tested and scalable sololutions are often still lacking, pointing to large remaining research requirements.