Grand Challenges: wind energy research needs for a global energy transition

Wind energy is anticipated to play a central role in enabling a rapid transition from fossil fuels to a system based largely on renewable power. Wind power is expected to be the backbone – providing nearly half of the electrical energy – of a renewable-based, carbon-neutral energy system. For this to happen, critical challenges around design, manufacture, and deployment of land and offshore technologies must be addressed. The wind research community has invested significant effort toward understanding the nature and implications of these challenges and identifying associated gaps. The outcomes of these efforts are summarized in the series of articles listed here.

The publication of the Grand Challenges series of papers has been supported by the European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE) and its Publications Committee. The EAWE is an international alliance of 55 member institutions from Europe and the USA, aiming to promote and support the development of wind energy science through a community of worldwide experts that provides a credible voice of tomorrow's wind energy research. The Grand Challenges initiative had its origins in Topical Expert Meetings sponsored by the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA Wind TCP), an international co-operation of 23 countries and sponsor members that share information and research activities to advance wind energy deployment.

15 Dec 2022
Grand Challenges: wind energy research needs for a global energy transition
Paul Veers, Katherine Dykes, Sukanta Basu, Alessandro Bianchini, Andrew Clifton, Peter Green, Hannele Holttinen, Lena Kitzing, Branko Kosovic, Julie K. Lundquist, Johan Meyers, Mark O'Malley, William J. Shaw, and Bethany Straw
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2491–2496, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, 2022
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06 Nov 2024
Grand challenges of wind energy science – meeting the needs and services of the power system
Mark O'Malley, Hannele Holttinen, Nicolaos Cutululis, Til Kristian Vrana, Jennifer King, Vahan Gevorgian, Xiongfei Wang, Fatemeh Rajaei-Najafabadi, and Andreas Hadjileonidas
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2087–2112, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2087-2024, 2024
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11 Jul 2023
Grand challenges in the design, manufacture, and operation of future wind turbine systems
Paul Veers, Carlo L. Bottasso, Lance Manuel, Jonathan Naughton, Lucy Pao, Joshua Paquette, Amy Robertson, Michael Robinson, Shreyas Ananthan, Thanasis Barlas, Alessandro Bianchini, Henrik Bredmose, Sergio González Horcas, Jonathan Keller, Helge Aagaard Madsen, James Manwell, Patrick Moriarty, Stephen Nolet, and Jennifer Rinker
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1071–1131, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1071-2023, 2023
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07 Jun 2023
Grand Challenges in the Digitalisation of Wind Energy
Andrew Clifton, Sarah Barber, Andrew Bray, Peter Enevoldsen, Jason Fields, Anna Maria Sempreviva, Lindy Williams, Julian Quick, Mike Purdue, Philip Totaro, and Yu Ding
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 947–974, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-947-2023, 2023
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28 Nov 2022
Scientific challenges to characterizing the wind resource in the marine atmospheric boundary layer
William J. Shaw, Larry K. Berg, Mithu Debnath, Georgios Deskos, Caroline Draxl, Virendra P. Ghate, Charlotte B. Hasager, Rao Kotamarthi, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Paytsar Muradyan, William J. Pringle, David D. Turner, and James M. Wilczak
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2307–2334, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2307-2022, 2022
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25 Nov 2022
Wind farm flow control: prospects and challenges
Johan Meyers, Carlo Bottasso, Katherine Dykes, Paul Fleming, Pieter Gebraad, Gregor Giebel, Tuhfe Göçmen, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2271–2306, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2271-2022, 2022
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12 Oct 2022
Current status and grand challenges for small wind turbine technology
Alessandro Bianchini, Galih Bangga, Ian Baring-Gould, Alessandro Croce, José Ignacio Cruz, Rick Damiani, Gareth Erfort, Carlos Simao Ferreira, David Infield, Christian Navid Nayeri, George Pechlivanoglou, Mark Runacres, Gerard Schepers, Brent Summerville, David Wood, and Alice Orrell
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2003–2037, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2003-2022, 2022
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