How Climate Change Impacts the Wind Power Industry

As global demand for electricity rises and the climate crisis worsens, wind energy is emerging as an essential source of clean energy generation. But in order to make this technology more reliable, experts must be familiar with wind patterns, and how climate change is affecting them. 

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New wind measurement technologies have helped map wind turbine placement and forecast storms that affect power generation. However, rising global temperatures are increasing wind speeds and leading to more intense storms, introducing new problems to the wind power industry. 

Changes in wind speed impact wind power efficiency and the technology that supports it, making wind an important variable in future wind power considerations and turbine designs. 

Wind Energy

Wind energy is a proven way to harness natural power for electricity generation, having been used since the 600s to perform tasks such as grinding grain. 

Wind energy nowadays comes from huge wind turbines that are sometimes as tall as the Statue of Liberty and have three 200-foot (60-metre)-long blades. When these spin with the force of the wind, they turn a shaft that is connected to a generator, producing electricity. 

Wind is a clean source of energy that generates no carbon emissions, is accessible globally, and cheap to implement. The cost of wind energy has been decreasing, making it a cost-effective energy source. Though wind farms may require large areas to effectively space out turbines, the land surrounding the bases of turbines can still be used for grazing livestock, hiking trails, and agriculture.

Urban planners are also increasingly looking at ways in which they can incorporate ​​wind energy into urban environments – a necessity considering that urban built environments have grown dramatically worldwide in the past few decades.

Thanks to research and improvements in technology, wind power is on the rise globally and on track to become one of the most widely-used renewable energy sources. 

Satellite technology detects wind trends in areas around the world, helping to predict storms and store long-term wind data. Using data stored and displayed by sites such as the Global Wind Atlas, companies determine where to set up new wind farms. 

However, as climate change impacts both wind speed and storm intensity, wind is becoming more difficult to predict. 

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How Is Wind Measured? 

Historically, wind has been measured using a tool known as an anemometer that resembles weather vanes that spin and measure wind speed based on the number of turns made in a given amount of time. Some anemometers are placed on buoys in the ocean to track ocean surface wind, which is important for shipping and navigation, while land measurements are typically located 10 meters above flat ground.

These measurements are vital to understand and predict the damage wind may cause to infrastructure such as homes, businesses, and electrical power lines.

However, these low altitude measurements do not account for the winds of the upper atmosphere that impact storms and the turbulence felt during air travel. 

For this, we have technologies like the Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) system, which is designed to measure atmospheric characteristics including wind speed and direction at a number of heights from ground level. Satellites can also help track cloud speed, allowing measurements of the upper jet stream and more precise weather prediction in areas where equipment is difficult to place or maintain.

These advances in technology have shown some intriguing trends in wind data over the past few decades. 

Global Wind 

As climate change worsens, understanding the impacts warming oceans may have on wind speeds can help improve wind energy infrastructure and assist in planning engineering projects. 

At the turn of the century, scientists began noticing that global winds have been slowing since the 1960s, a phenomenon known as the global stilling effect. The changes were attributed to regrowth of vegetation or buildings, which are now blocking the wind. 

But in 2019, a study pointed at a “reversal” in global terrestrial stilling, showing that the stilling reversed around 2010 and that global wind speeds over land have since recovered, increasing by approximately 17% between 2010 and 2017. The authors debunked previous beliefs that variations in near-surface winds was attributable to vegetation and urbanization, attributing it to cyclical changes in ocean-atmospheric oscillations instead. These oscillations, they concluded, can help anticipate future wind speeds, facilitating the optimization of wind turbines. 

A 2025 study of wind speeds at the surface of the oceans showed that warming oceans are causing faster ocean surface wind speeds. Yet in 2021, wind farms in the North Sea experienced a near total wind stilling, meaning the turbines were generating almost no electricity. The phenomenon is known as “wind drought,” and it has made it imperative for companies to identify which areas are the most consistent for wind energy. Thus, the key to reliable wind energy may be to study regional rather than global wind trends. 

Wind speeds feel different depending on elevation, to which anyone who has summited a mountain or stood on the roof of a skyscraper can attest. This phenomenon is not necessarily determined by altitude but rather by a lack of barriers to protect from the wind. In the upper atmosphere, jet stream speeds are predicted to significantly increase with increased temperatures. This is because jet streams – fast flowing, narrow air currents in the Earth’s atmosphere – are caused by the difference in pressure between the poles and the tropics. Not only can this cause more intense storms, but it may also make air travel more turbulent. 

Effects on Wind Energy

Any time the blades on a turbine are not turning, electricity is not being generated. Of course, this happens on days without wind, but it also occurs when winds are too fast. Turbines are designed to withstand winds up to a Category 3 hurricane. Anything faster than that, and they will automatically shut off. As storms increase in frequency and severity, this scenario is poised to play out more and more often. 

The heightened intensity of storms also increases the vulnerability of costly wind farms to lightning strikes and strong winds, which could harm sensitive equipment. Turbines’ batteries and mechanical parts are also at risk of malfunctioning in extreme hot conditions. 

How to Prepare for Wind Changes

Wind energy is an accessible and affordable method available to nations aiming to reduce carbon emissions, but companies must plan ahead for increasingly volatile conditions. Hardier turbines that could withstand hurricane winds rather than shutting off could ensure electrical generation through catastrophic storms. Equipment must be able to withstand increasing temperatures in open areas. 

Floating offshore turbines, already in use off the coast of Scotland, mitigate concerns for wildlife and make wind technology more widely available, especially for nations with low on-shore wind speeds or limited ground space. Strong winds in the deep sea generate electricity that helps offset some of the high installation costs. These turbines are expensive to install, but costs are expected to decrease as technology improves. 

Companies are also manufacturing airborne wind energy systems – essentially a kite launched into the jet stream – to harness the increasing jet stream speeds. The kite moves in the wind to generate electricity on the ground. Though this is a new technology, the nation of Mauritius has a system with a 120 square-meter kite that has been operating since 2022. Rural locations, offshore barges, and places with consistent high-altitude winds could benefit from airborne wind energy.

We cannot afford to lose the electricity generated by wind, but the changes already occurring in wind speed and predictability mean that we must improve our technology and prepare for volatility in wind power.