QAZAQ GREEN. The average construction costs of wind power plants (WPPs) have dropped by more than one-third since the early 2010s, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The average cost of launching 1 kilowatt (kW) of capacity has gone from $2,179 in 2010 to $1,274 in 2022 for onshore wind generators and from $5,217 in 2010 to $3,461 in 2022 for offshore wind generators (all values are given in 2022 prices), Global Energy Prize reports.

In addition to capital costs, the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is also going down: it decreased more than threefold between 2010 and 2022 for onshore wind generators (from $0.107 to $0.033 per kilowatt-hour) and more than twofold for offshore wind generators (from $0.197 to $0.081). At the same time, energy supply reliability has improved greatly for offshore wind generators: the average utilisation rate of coastal WPPs rose from 27% in 2010 to 42% in 2022 (for onshore WPPs, this indicator averaged 37–38%). The increased utilisation rate can be attributed to, among other things, the use of high-power turbines, which make it possible to generate electricity in regions with low wind activity.

According to IRENA, the capacity of wind turbines brought into operation worldwide reached 116 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, an all-time high. China’s share in the capacity of wind turbines launched worldwide increased from 48% in 2022 to 65% in 2023, with the EU accounting for precisely 20% and the United States for 8% (with the share of all other countries and regions of the world totalling 7%). In the coming years, the pace of bringing wind turbines into operation will be affected by the introduction of ultra-high voltage power transmission lines making it possible to supply clean electricity from regions favourable for the development of renewable energy sources to densely populated cities with a shortage of space for wind generators.

The commercialisation of innovations in the wind energy industry will also be a factor. Among these innovations is a wind farm consisting of 126 turbines designed by Wind Catching Systems. The wind farm is based on a floating platform holding 14 vertical axes with 9 minor wind turbines fixed on each of them. Due to the small size of the turbines, the wind farm will be capable of generating energy at a wind velocity of 11–12 metres per second, which may be dangerous for traditional big WPPs. At the same time, big aggregated scope of the blades allows for increasing the generating performance: for example, five wind farms will be able to generate the same amount of energy as 25 traditional offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 375 megawatts (MW).