Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Wind energy development and its environmental impact: A review

Dennis Y.C. Leung ∗ , Yuan Yang
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Wind energy, commonly recognized to be a clean and environmentally friendly renewable energy
Received 3 September 2011 resource that can reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, has developed rapidly in recent years. Its mature
Accepted 27 September 2011 technology and comparatively low cost make it promising as an important primary energy source in the
Available online 4 November 2011
future. However, there are potential environmental impacts due to the installation and operation of the
wind turbines that cannot be ignored. This paper aims to provide an overview of world wind energy sce-
Keywords:
narios, the current status of wind turbine development, development trends of offshore wind farms, and
Wind power
the environmental and climatic impact of wind farms. The wake effect of wind turbines and modeling
Offshore wind
Environmental impact
studies regarding this effect are also reviewed.
Climate change © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
CFD

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
2. Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
3. Current status of world wind energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
3.1. Installed wind power capacity in selected countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
3.1.1. China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
3.1.2. The United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
3.1.3. Germany and Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
3.1.4. India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
3.1.5. Other potential European wind producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
3.2. Wind turbine size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
3.3. Onshore wind farms across the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
4. Offshore wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.1. Advantage of offshore wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.2. Offshore wind scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.2.1. Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.2.2. China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.2.3. The United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
4.3. Challenges and solutions of offshore wind technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
5. Environmental impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1036
5.1. Noise and visual impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037
5.2. Effect on animals and birds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037
5.3. Climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037
6. Wake effect and assessment using CFD method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
6.1. Wake effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
6.2. CFD method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
7. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 2859 7911; fax: +852 2858 5415.
E-mail address: [email protected] (D.Y.C. Leung).

1364-0321/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.rser.2011.09.024
1032 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039

1. Introduction Table 1
Installed (2010) and proposed installed (2020) capacity (MW) in the current top five
countries.
Rapid global economic growth has contributed to today’s
quickly increasing demand for energy. However, conventional fos- Country Total installed capacity Proposed installed capacity Ref.
sil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, which have been a key China 42,287 200,000 [17]
energy source since the industrial revolution, are not only fac- US 40,180 [18]
ing depletion, but has also gradually become a source for concern Germany 27,214 55,000 [20]
Spain 20,676 45,000 [22]
regarding its serious adverse effects on our environment. Hence,
India 13,065 [23]
the quest to develop renewable and clean energy sources, such as
solar, wind and solar-hydrogen energy, is imperative and timely [1].
Among these many renewable resources, wind power is the only generate electricity in 1887 [9]. Meanwhile, in the year 1888, the
one that offers a mature technique, as well as promising commer- wind machine developed by Bruch and his colleagues was success-
cial prospects, and is now generally applied in large-scale electricity fully put into operation on the Atlantic coast. From this moment
generation [2]. forward, wind power technology began to develop step by step [10].
Wind power has a history more than 3000 years old, and people In 1920, Kurt Bilau applied the Ventikanten blade, using an aircraft
began to use it to generate electrical power about 120 years ago. airfoil that he and Betz developed, in a modern windmill design
The development of wind power has always fluctuated with oil [8]. During the 1920s and 1930s, America widely developed small
prices. The technology of wind power was first boosted during the wind machines (<1 kW) and windmills without electrical systems
1970s oil crisis, but damped down afterwards [3]. During the last in its rural places. During this period the popularity of windmills
decade, due to the concessionary policy towards the wind power used reached its highest levels in the US, with about 600,000 units
industry adopted by many countries, the wind market has devel- installed [1,11].
oped rapidly, and the wind turbine technology has experienced In 1941, a prototype of the modern horizontal axis wind tur-
an important evolution over time. Beyond the original pioneering bine was built in the US, and wind turbines were widely used to
countries, such as Germany, the USA, Denmark and Spain, countries provide electricity to farms to which electric power lines could
like China and Turkey have made substantial efforts to develop their not reach [1,12]. However, with the widespread development of
wind power industry [1,3,4]. It is predicted that wind energy will electric power lines, the wind turbine market was gradually dimin-
provide 5% of the world’s energy in 2020 [5]. However, the wind ished, beginning in the 1950s [1].
energy that use today mostly comes from onshore winds. Mean- When examining the development history of wind power, it
while, there is a growing interest in offshore wind, as the wind is is clear that the popularity of wind energy has always fluctu-
normally stronger and more uniform at sea than on land. European ated with the price of fossil fuels. Since the oil crisis in the early
countries are the leaders in offshore wind, and Denmark has been 1970s, the price of oil skyrocketed, which led to a focus on wind
applying offshore wind to supply electricity for about 20 years [6]. power development, and a boom took place in 1995 [13]. In
In countries like the US, where coastal wind sources are abundant, the last decade, wind power experienced a leap in usage; since
offshore wind has the potential to become a major energy source the beginning of the 21st century, the world wind electricity-
for domestic applications [7]. generation capacity has doubled approximately every three and a
Though wind power has performed well in recent years, it also half years [13,14].
creates a strong environmental impact, such as noise, visual and cli-
matic impact. Although these impacts seem minor when compared 3. Current status of world wind energy
with fossil fuels, its effect on humans should not be overlooked, due
to its potential great development in usage. It is necessary to figure Over the last decade, the world’s wind power generation capac-
these potential drawbacks out, especially their potential long-term ity has been growing rapidly, with an average annual growth of
effects, and to find solutions to them in order to retain the long-term about 30%. Fig. 1 shows the global wind power capacity installed
sustainability of wind energy. between 1990 and 2015 (estimated for the installed capacities
This paper aims to provide an overview of the world wind energy from 2010 to 2015). It indicates that at the end of 2009, the world
scenario, current development of wind turbines, the development wind energy’s installed capacity reached 158 GW, a 31% increase
trend of offshore wind power, and the environmental and climatic over 2008. According to the data published by the World Energy
impact of wind on humans. It also introduces various numerical Association, at the end of the first half of 2010, the installed capac-
simulations for wind studies, which is of value to mention, as these ity reached 175 GW, and it is estimated that the capacity will hit
simulations are commonly used in the design and assessment of 292 GW by 2012 and 425 GW by 2015 [15,16].
wind turbines, and may be more useful in solving problems than
experiments or field measurements. 3.1. Installed wind power capacity in selected countries

The updated top five market contributors of the global installed

2. Historical background wind energy capacity are China, the US, Germany, Spain and India,
respectively. The following section will give a brief overview of
Humans have a long history of using wind energy; they have wind power installed capacity and outlook in these five lead-
employed wind power for much longer than the application of ing countries, as well as some representative European countries.
coal and refined petroleum. In Egypt, about 3000 years ago, Table 1 shows the installed capacity data of the five leading wind
people began to use windmills to pump water. Furthermore, Chi- power countries between 2001 and 2010, while Fig. 2 clearly
nese farmers started to use wind wheels with a vertical axis of demonstrates their development trends and speeds over the past
rotation to drain rice fields, centuries before Europeans did so. decade.
However, the horizontal axis windmill was probably invented in
Europe, and was first found in the year 1180 in the Duchy of 3.1.1. China
Normandy [8]. In 2010, China overtook the place of the US as the leading pro-
People began to use windmills to generate electricity from the ducer of wind power, hitting a total of 42.3 GW, adding 16.5 GW
time when Prof. James Blyth, in Scotland, first built a windmill to over the year, a 64% increase over 2009 [17]. It is not surprising
 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039 1033

Fig. 1. Global wind power installed capacity, GW, 1990–2015 [30].

that China replaced the United States as the biggest wind mar- 3.1.2. The United States
ket, because China’s total installed capacity has doubled every year Although the United States’ wind energy capacity was surpassed
from 2006 until today, as shown in Fig. 2. Besides, the source of by that of China in 2010, up to 5.1 GW were installed in the USA in
wind energy is abundant in China, second to the capacity of the US. 2011, making the total installed capacity 40.2 GW [18].
The total exploitable capacity of China for both onshore and off- The USA lacks certain policies to support the development of
shore wind energy is around 700–1200 GW, according to the third renewable energy, which makes the US wind industry fall into the
National Wind Energy Resources Census [4]. up-down cycle mentioned previously. 2009 was a record year for
China began to utilize wind power in the 1970s. However, its use the US wind industry; with the support of the federal tax policies,
of wind power developed slowly until 2006, when “The Renewable its total installed amount reached 35.2 GW, with more than 10 GW
Energy Law of China” was issued. China’s wind power market then installed in one year. Despite the fact that the growth slowed down
experienced a breakthrough, and its total installed capacity reached in 2010, the 1.2 GW of wind power newly installed in the first half
12 GW at the end of 2008, an increase of 8.6 times over its capacity of the year can still generate enough power for 9.7 million homes
in 2005. [19].
With its rapid and seemingly unhampered expansion, the next It is estimated that by 2030, wind energy will generate 20% of the
goal of the Chinese wind power market is to reach 90 GW by 2015 US electricity if there are proper US policies, while at present it pro-
and 200 GW by 2020, in which year China also plans to build an vides around 2% of the nation’s electricity. The future of wind power
independent technical system [17]. It is hoped that wind power in the US seems uncertain, but the manufacturers are appearing to
will also play a major part in China’s energy structure in the middle treat the slowdown in 2010 as a short-term phenomenon [18].
of this century [4].

3.1.3. Germany and Spain

Germany and Spain are the first two leading wind power pro-
ducers in Europe; in the past decade they have maintained a steady
rate of development in the wind industry.
With 1.5 GW of installed capacity added in 2010, Germany’s
installed wind capacity reached 27.2 GW, providing 6.2% of the
nation’s electricity, which enabled it to maintain its leading place in
Europe wind power [20]. What’s more, the new installed capacity
includes 108 MW of offshore wind power. On the other hand, the
rapid development of wind power has also created 5000 jobs for
around 100,000 people [21]. It is predicted by the German Wind
Energy Association that the country would hit 45 GW of onshore
and 10 GW of offshore wind by 2020 [20].
Despite experiencing a financial crisis in 2010, Spain still
retained its second place in Europe, after Germany, by adding
1.5 GW, bringing the total installations up to 20.7 GW [22]. On
windy days, wind power can be the largest energy source in the
country, and 2010 was a special, particularly windy year, so that
Fig. 2. Installed capacity of wind power in current top five countries (data, Refs. wind power accounted for 16.6% of the national net power con-
[17,18,20,22,23]). sumption [22].
1034 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039

Table 2
Top 10 largest onshore wind farms until 2010 [31].

Rank Wind farm name Capacity (MW) Country Start-up year

1 Roscoe Wind Farm 781.5 USA 2008

2 Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center 735.5 USA 2005
3 Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm 662.5 USA 2007
4 Fowler Ridge Wind Farm 599.8 USA 2009
5 Sweetwater Wind Farm 585.3 USA 2003
6 Buffalo Gap Wind Farm 523.3 USA 2005
7 Dabancheng Wind Farm 500 China 1989
8 Meadow Lake Wind Farm 500 USA 2009
9 Panther Creek Wind Farm 458 USA 2009
10 Biglow Canyon Wind Farm 450 USA 2007

It is predicted by the Spanish Wind Power Association and the maximum onshore turbine size in operation is 6.5 MW, which dou-
Renewable Association that Spain should reach a capacity of 45 GW bled the size of the largest turbine in 2005 [30]. A 7.5 MW turbine
(40 GW on-shore and 5 GW offshore) by 2020. However, it will be is in Clipper’s 2012 plan, while both Clipper and Sway are on the
crucial to achieve this goal in 2011 because of the country’s financial way to developing a 10 MW one [30]. However, the manufacture
problems [22]. of a large wind turbine will be hampered by factors like special
reinforced materials and bespoke lifting vehicles, etc. [5].
3.1.4. India
By supporting renewable energy policies in 2003, India achieved 3.3. Onshore wind farms across the world
great energy returns in 2010 by adding new wind energy installa-
tions of 2.1 GW, reaching a total of 13.1 GW at the end of 2010; this A wind farm is a collection of wind turbines used to generate
put India in fifth place as a global producer of wind power [23]. electricity by capturing wind power. A large wind farm can contain
several hundred wind turbines and cover hundreds of square miles.
3.1.5. Other potential European wind producers The United States owns the greatest number of wind turbines,
2010 was also a record year for wind power production in Euro- and had the largest wind farm in the world as of 2010; it has great
pean Union countries; 9.9 GW of wind power were installed across wind power potential [31]. Table 2 shows the top 10 wind farms in
Europe, with European Union countries accounting for 9.3 GW of the world until 2010. It is obvious that most of the large operational
the total. Except for Spain and Germany, France was the biggest onshore wind farms are located in the US, the biggest of which is
contributor (1.1 GW), followed by the UK (1 GW) and Italy (0.8 GW) the Roscoe Wind Farm; its installed capacity is 781.5 MW with 627
[24]. wind turbines. This project was finished in 2009, and covers an area
Wind power potential is well distributed in France, and it is of nearly 400 km2 in Roscoe, Texas [32].
the second biggest producer of wind power in Europe. Since 2007, The Dabancheng wind farm in China is the only one in Asia in
France has an added amount of wind capacity of around 1 GW every the top 10 wind farms list; it is also the largest operational wind
year and in 2010, French wind energy capacity reached 5.7 GW [25]. farm in China. The installed capacity of Dabancheng wind farm is
The long-term target set by the French government is to reach 500 MW, and it is located in Xinjiang Province [33]. However, the
25 GW by 2020, including 6 GW from offshore winds. However, Gansu wind farm under construction now in Gansu Province, China,
whether or not the 2020 target can be met is largely decided by the installed capacity of which is planned to grow to 20 GW by
French legislation and regulations towards wind power [25]. 2020, will be the largest onshore wind farm in both China, and in
For the UK, the total installed capacity of wind power topped the whole world in the future [34].
5 GW in 2010, and offshore wind broke the 1 GW barrier [26]. 71 Europe also has large numbers of wind farms, while the amount
onshore wind farms were approved by the British government of wind farms in Germany stays in second place after the United
this year, and the 33 wind projects under construction, offering States. However, no single wind farm has an installed capacity large
a total capacity of 1.1 GW, marked another milestone in the UK enough to step into the top 10 [30]. Nevertheless, with the rapid
wind industry [27]. Furthermore, offshore wind power in the UK construction of large onshore wind farms all over the world, the
has been developing rapidly; it is on track to hit 1.3 GW at the end list of the first 10 largest onshore wind farms will soon be changed.
of 2010, and there are still 3 GW of projects waiting to be built up Table 3 shows the 10 largest proposed onshore wind farms in the
to 2014 [27]. Offshore wind is expected to have a good future, as world.
it provides a greater possibility of using different types of wind What is more, the largest onshore wind farm in Australia is
turbines and faster rotating blades, without considering noise and the Hallett Group, with an installed capacity of 298 MW, and the
visual hazards.

3.2. Wind turbine size Table 3

Top 10 largest proposed onshore wind farms in the world [80].

Nowadays, in order to capture more wind power and to bring Rank Wind farm name Capacity (MW) Country
down the cost of renewable energy generation, more powerful and 1 Gansu Wind Farm 20,000 China
larger-scale wind turbines are needed. Therefore, the sizes of the 2 Titan Wind Project 5050 USA
wind turbines, including both blade length and generation capacity, 3 Pampa Wind Project 4000 USA
are becoming larger and larger. 4 Markbygden Wind Farm 4000 Sweden
5 Dobrogea Wind Farm 1500 Romania
In a large modern wind turbine, the generator can be 100 times 6 Silverton Wind Farm 1000 Australia
of the size of a similar turbine in 1980, and the blade length has 7 Hartland Wind Farm 500–1000 USA
increased almost 8 times over the same period [28]. Typically, 8 Castle Hill Wind Farm 860 New Zealand
the rotor diameter in modern wind turbines ranges from 40 to 9 Shepherds Flat Wind Farm 845 USA
10 Sinus Holding Wind Farm 700 Romania
90 m, and is rated between 500 kW and 2 MW [29]. Until now, the
 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039 1035

Table 4 Table 5
Large offshore wind farms in the world [38]. Installed capacity (MW) of offshore wind farms in European countries [37].

Wind farm name Capacity (MW) Country Country Installed capacity (MW)

Thanet 300 UK UK 1341

Horns Rev II 209 Denmark Denmark 854
R␾dsand II 207 Denmark Netherlands 241
Lynn and Inner Dowsing 194 UK Belgium 188
Robin Rigg (Solway Firth) 180 UK Sweden 153
Gunfleet Sands 172 UK Germany 116
Nysted (R␾dsand I) 166 Denmark Ireland 22

Melancthon EcoPower Center is Canada’s largest onshore wind The total offshore wind capacity in Europe in 2010 is shown in
farm, with an installed capacity of 199 MW [31]. Table 5.
It is obvious that the UK is the leader in European offshore wind,
with the largest installed capacity. Within the first half of 2010,
4. Offshore wind
16 offshore wind farms were built in Europe with a total installed
capacity of 743 MW, and 8 were in the UK with an installed capac-
While onshore wind is developing by leaps and bounds, in the
ity of 455 MW [37]. As of January 2011, the Thanet Offshore Wind
meantime, offshore wind has also attracted people’s attention in
Project in UK with 300 MW installed capacity is the largest off-
recent years. As generally known, wind energy is clean and inex-
shore wind farm in the world, followed by Horns Rev II (209 MW)
pensive, but space for the turbines is becoming scarce, which makes
in Denmark, while the Greater Gabbard Project (504 MW) is the
offshore wind an attractive choice. Therefore, offshore wind power
largest offshore wind farm under construction [39]. It is predicted
has recently been widely focused on and developed, as it is reli-
that the total installed capacity of offshore wind in Europe will
able, intensive, and its source is abundant and offers vast offshore
reach 40 GW in 2020, with the UK contributing half [37].
areas. It can not only ease reliance on oil and cut down emissions,
Looking back on the history of offshore wind, it is necessary to
but also stimulate the marine economy development and offer job
mention Denmark. Denmark is not only the second highest con-
opportunities.
tributor to offshore wind in Europe, it is also a pioneer in this field;
Denmark built the first wind farm in the world in 1991, and have
4.1. Advantage of offshore wind been using wind turbines to supply electricity for nearly 20 years
[6].
There is a growing interest in constructing wind towers offshore The first offshore wind turbine was installed in 1992; since
because offshore wind has many advantages compared with its then, offshore wind turbines have been increasing in both size and
onshore counterpart. The wind blows harder and stronger so that it capacity at a faster rate than the onshore turbines. Until 2010, the
can provide greater productivity when larger turbines are installed. 5 MW Multibrid and 5 MW Repower, both set in Germany, were the
With huge potentially productive areas available offshore, large largest offshore wind turbines in operation [30].
wind farms can be built. Hence, the wind turbines are far enough
away from the shore and human life that the issue of visual impact 4.2.2. China
and noise can be ignored. Thus, it is possible to apply some efficient The operation of China’s first offshore wind farm, the Shanghai
but noisy wind turbines, like two-blades and downwind ones. What Donghai Bridge project, marks China’s entrance into the offshore
is more, softer and cheaper blades can be used in a downwind tur- wind market. The Donghai Bridge offshore wind farm began gen-
bine, as they would be deflected from the tower and could reduce erating power in June 2010. It is also the first offshore wind farm
the possibility that they would hit the tower [35]. Meanwhile, to outside Europe. Furthermore, four projects along the coastline of
make a smaller visual impact, bigger wind turbines can be built, so Jiangsu Province add 1 GW of planned capacity of offshore wind
fewer are needed. However, bigger turbines may not necessarily [17].
be better because of the stresses caused by the blades’ own weight
[36]. 4.2.3. The United States
The potential for offshore wind power in the United States is so
4.2. Offshore wind scenario enormous that it tops 907 GW, close to the generating capacity cur-
rently installed in this country [40]. As of 2009, America is still in
4.2.1. Europe the planning stages of exploiting offshore wind. Five offshore wind
Europe has always been the leader in offshore wind technology, projects are currently planned: the Cape Wind project, the Bluewa-
and has developed much faster than other regions. The largest off- ter Wind project, the LIPA offshore wind park, the Nai Kum project
shore wind farms are all distributed in Europe, as shown in Table 4. and a project developed by Wind Energy Systems Technologies LLC
Until 2010, there are in total 39 offshore wind farms built across [35].
Europe of which the operating capacity hitted 2.9 GW [30]. The However, the Cape Wind project, approved by the Federal Gov-
year 2010 was absolutely a record year for offshore wind devel- ernment in April, 2010, is proposing America’s first offshore wind
opment in Europe by adding 883 MW and, in the future, more than farm on the Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Miles from the
100 GW of offshore projects will be constructed or under develop- nearest shore, 130 wind turbines will gracefully harness wind to
ment in Europe [37]. The new offshore capacity was contributed produce up to 420 MW. The project is designed to provide three
by the United Kingdom (458 MW), Denmark (207 MW), Belgium quarters of the Cape and Islands’ electricity needs [41].
(165 MW), Germany (50 MW) and Finland (2.3 MW), respectively
[26]. 4.3. Challenges and solutions of offshore wind technology
In 2010, the total number of new, fully grid connected wind
turbines was 308, a 51% increase from 2009 [38]. In the same year, Although offshore wind technology has many advantages, there
eighteen European offshore wind farms were under construction, are still many challenges to its successful implementation. The cost
and eight of them were fully completed and grid connected [26]. of constructing a wind farm offshore is 1.5–2 times greater than
1036 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039

Fig. 3. Floating wind turbine concepts (from Ref [35], reprinted by permission of Elsevier).

that onshore, as the towers, foundations, underwater cabling and catenary mooring lines are used to keep the system in place. The
installation offshore are more difficult and expensive [42]. Since the Oceanwind Technology and Statoil Hydro companies are both
offshore wind farm is far away from shore, maintenance and repair studying this concept [4], which can be used in water depths from
is also more challenging, due to the difficulty in accessing the site. 200 m to 700 m.
What is more, the need for crane vessels in repair makes it 5–10 The Mooring Line Stabilized concept uses Tension Leg Platform,
times more expensive than onshore repair [43]. the corners of which are connected to mooring lines anchored to
Offshore wind is a comparatively new sector, but there is still the seabed. This concept is currently being investigated by NREL
a great deal to explore in its technology. Until now, almost all off- and MIT [48].
shore wind farms are directly using onshore wind technology. Since The idea of the Buoyancy Stabilized concept is to have the wind
the environment and operating conditions are much harsher, the turbine stand on a platform floating near to the surface, and held in
reliability of offshore wind turbine components needs to be studied place by mooring lines. The mooring lines in this concept primarily
and proven. Therefore we need time to develop the optimal offshore have the role of keeping the structure in place. NREL and MIT are
wind technology. For instance, the first generation offshore wind also working on this a concept to support a 5 MW wind turbine
machine, like the Siemens 3.6 MW turbine, has been developed and [48,49].
its performance closely monitored [27]. Moreover, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out
The main challenge to offshore technology is how to settle the to determine the environmental impact of a floating wind turbine
wind tower in waters that lies deeper and further from the land, as on the marine areas. Compared with the results of conventional
wind speeds tend to increase with the distance from the shore, and non-floating wind power plants, it shows that there is almost no dif-
it is possible to harness more energy from the wind. However, as the ference between the two; a floating wind turbine can obtain larger
wind tower is set further away, its cost also increases sharply [44]. wind resources, since it can be located further from the shore on a
Current offshore wind power plants are restricted to waters shal- floating foundation [50]. The successful application of floating wind
lower than 30 m, and the water depth is, to a large extent, affected turbines in the near future will help offshore wind to develop much
by the supported foundation of the wind tower. The monopole faster and generate more wind power.
and gravity-based foundation are two types generally utilized in
shallow waters [35,45]. The monopole-based foundation with a 5. Environmental impact
diameter of 6 m is used in waters up to 30 m, while the gravity
base foundation is mainly used at exposed sites in waters 20–80 m In contrast to fossil fuels and nuclear power, wind turbines do
[38]. For waters more than 30 m in depth, a multiple footing design not pollute our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, nor do they
would be applied to the foundation to increase its stability [35]. For cause any problems for future generations with radioactive waste.
example, the tripod piled and tripod suction caisson foundations Thus, wind power is considered environmentally benign. How-
are also used in waters that are 20–80 m deep [38]. ever, it still imposes some impacts on human life. In particular,
Meanwhile, when seeking to shift the wind turbine from the the potential long-term effects, although minor, cannot be ignored.
seacoast to deep water, floating wind turbines are one possible Nevertheless, the impacts of wind turbines on our environment
method; there are three main design concepts for this type of have not been well-established, and remain under debate.
turbine. They are the Ballast Stabilized, Mooring Line Stabilized In order to build a truly sustainable society, the environmen-
and Buoyancy Stabilized foundations, as shown in Fig. 3 [46,47]. tal impacts of wind turbines should be further studied and solved.
In the Ballast Stabilized concept, ballast is used to get the center Some discussions and research on this topic have been carried out
of gravity well below the center of buoyancy, providing stability; in previous years, and will be reviewed here.
 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039 1037

5.1. Noise and visual impact show that local birds can quickly learn to avoid obstacles, and thus
that wind turbines would not be a serious problem for them [8].
The inherent impact of wind turbines on its environment is Birds will still be killed by wind turbines, but the amount of birds
always limited to the immediate surroundings. The noise caused that will be killed this way is negligible compared to the deadly
by operating onshore wind turbines, and their visual impact, can results of other human activities such as deforestation and urban-
be a major annoyance in people’s lives [51]. ization, no matter how extensively wind energy is used in the
Wind turbines cause noise in two main ways: mechanical future [57]. Some measures can also be put in place to protect birds
noise and aerodynamic noise. The latter, although still lacking fac- from wind turbines. In a wind project in Texas, avian radars are
tual evidence of its impact, is considered to be a critical issue. set to detect birds in the area; the system will stop the wind tur-
Its low frequency may cause annoyance in people’s lives; this bines if there is a potential danger to birds from the turbines [62].
problem has been argued by some experts [52]. However, some Professional wildlife surveys can also be carried out before wind
researchers believe this can be a serious problem for people living farm construction in order to understand the breeding and feed-
close to wind farms, and have done research and surveys on the ing behaviors of local birds, which helps to minimize the danger
topic. imposed on the birds [63].
Pedersen [53] has explored the relationship between the sound Although offshore wind is a new industry sector, its impact
pressure levels of wind turbines and neighbors’ well-being, show- on sea creatures in coastal areas has been studied by several
ing that stress symptoms such as headaches appeared in those who researchers. A research has pointed out that some sensitive marine
were annoyed by the presence of wind turbines. Punch et al. [54], mammals, like dab and salmon, can perceive pile-driving pulses at
when reviewing and summarizing recent literature in this area, a considerable distance during the construction and operation of
found that the low-frequency aerodynamic noise of wind turbines wind turbines, thus, their behaviors can be affected by these off-
can bother people by causing sleep disturbances and hearing loss, shore wind turbines [64]. Nevertheless, information in this area is
and can also hurt the vestibular system. Some researchers have still rare, and more studies need to be to be done as a result of
also mentioned possible solutions to this problem. For example, increasing offshore wind construction.
some suggested that wind turbines should be built at least 2 km
away from where they live or optimize the house structure to
block out the noise [52]. Son et al. [55] studied the characteris- 5.3. Climate change
tics of aerodynamic noise from wind turbines, using an integrated
numerical methods based on Ray theory, and found that the As the scale of wind farms becomes larger and larger, there are
noise of wind turbines can be significantly minimized by putting some speculations that they may cause changes in local climates.
obstacles in the propagation path. The experiment carried out by Two such cases have attracted general concern.
Oerlemans et al. [56] shows that an optimized blade or serrated In Xilingo League, Inner Mongolia, precipitation data provided
blade can reduce the noise level by, on average, 0.5 and 3.2 dB, by the Water Statistics Bureau showed that there has been an
respectively. unprecedented drought since 2005, and that this drought devel-
As for the visual impact, people seem to evaluate it subjectively oped much faster in wind turbine areas [65]. Moreover, at the San
[57]. Some people think that wind turbines are impressive looking Gorgonio wind fields in the US, when analyzing the temperature
and pleasant, while others have opposing views. Relevant surveys records of the wind farm Roy and Justin [66] found that giant wind
have shown that more than 70% of people in the UK do not have turbines could change local temperatures by warming surface tem-
a negative opinion of wind turbines [58]. On the other hand, some peratures at night and cooling them in the daytime. This analysis
tourism officials thought that wind turbines could damage local indicates that giant wind turbines do have environmental impact,
tourism [57]. but whether the impact is good or bad still needs to be studied
Among all the effects on the environment caused by wind further.
turbines, the visual impact is the most difficult to assess [8]. Keith et al. [67] has simulated wind turbine’s climatic impact by
Many assessment methods, such as the Quechee Test, Multicrite- changing the drag coefficients of the surface in two different gen-
ria Analysis and the Spanish method, have been developed [59]. eral circulation models, which shows that wind power can induce
The Quechee Test is a theoretical evaluation aiming to assess climate change at continental scales, but that its effect on the global
whether the wind turbines would cause an adverse aesthetic average surface temperature is minor.
impact to the landscapes, based on analytical factors closely related Furthermore, some environmental engineers speculate that
to the wind turbine and landscapes. Meanwhile, multicriteria anal- the turbulence in the wake of wind turbines may cause local
ysis is currently a widely-used method, yielding an evaluation climate change by mixing the air up and down; this turbu-
score from 0 to 100 by analyzing physical attributes (PA) (like lence can be detected at long distances. The turbulence in the
water, land form, snow, etc.) and aesthetic attributes (like color, wake of the turbines can also change the direction of the high-
texture, etc.). On the other hand, the Spanish method uses a speed wind at the surface, which would enhance local moisture
CAD software and a Geographical Information System to create evaporation [68].
a topographical solid surface, on which the wind turbines would In general, even though we cannot directly relate this irregu-
be put to undertake the simulation; the value of PA, used to lar phenomenon to wind turbines at this moment, it is necessary
evaluate the visual impact level, is then calculated. The higher to continue studying these effects, as more and more wind farms
the PA value, the deeper the impact level [59,60]. By using the will be constructed in the next few decades. In summary, the
Spanish method, it is found that the quantification of poten- environmental impact of wind turbines is a controversial topic.
tial visual impact can improve the public’s acceptance of the We cannot deny that all human behaviors will cause correspond-
innovation [61]. ing effects to the environment. However, as wind energy will
become a main energy source in the near future, many environ-
mental effects that now seem minor may cause disastrous impacts
5.2. Effect on animals and birds in the future, and therefore should not be ignored. Therefore,
further research and proper optimization should be carried out,
The danger of wind turbines to birds is a concern to many ani- making wind power a friendly and sustainable way to generate
mal lovers, as wind farms may be built in the birds’ habitats. Studies electricity.
1038 D.Y.C. Leung, Y. Yang / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1031–1039

6. Wake effect and assessment using CFD method In general, by using the CFD method, we can not only obtain
extreme loading at pinpoints, but we are also able to get more data
6.1. Wake effect than from experimental methods.

Wake effect loss must be taken into account when calculating 7. Conclusions
the efficiency of a large-scale wind farm, and as mentioned before,
the climatic impact of wind turbines may be related to its wake At present, wind energy is a mature renewable energy source
effect. Thus, in order to determine how wind turbines may impact that has high potential to become a major primary source of energy
the local climate, it is essential to study the wake effect of wind in the future. Over the last decade, wind energy has developed by
turbines. leaps and bounds. During this period, the world wind power gen-
As early as 1988, Zervos et al. [69] has developed a numerical erating capacity has grown rapidly, with an average annual growth
method without a grid, using the vortex particle concept to explore of 29%. In mid-2010, the totally installed capacity increased to over
the wake structure of wind turbines. The simulation results were a 175 GW, and is estimated to hit 260 GW by 2012 and 425 GW by
good match with the experimental results, which showed the reli- 2015. However, whether or not the development of wind power
ability of the developed method. In the same year, a comparatively can maintain this pace and reach the target in the future is, to a
simple numerical model was presented by Ainslie [70], which takes large extent, decided by energy policies.
all the relevant meteorological factors into account to calculate the While most wind power development is onshore, offshore
wake flow field of the wind turbine. wind power is a comparatively new sector of wind energy that
Different wake models have been developed, and Crespo et al. has attracted people’s attention due to its many advantages over
[71] reviewed them in 1999. Six commonly used models were eval- onshore wind. European countries have thus far been leading the
uated based on an experiment that measured the offshore wake offshore wind market and technology. As of 2010, the cumulative
wind speed distribution by means of a ship-set sodar, which in capacity of offshore wind in Europe reached 3 GW. Countries like
turn established a new evaluation method [72]. Lee et al. [73] car- China and the United States are also making efforts to develop their
ried out a 3D simulation of wind turbines in mountainous areas offshore wind farms. However, offshore wind is a new technology
to study the varied flow performance in complex terrains. The that still needs to be tested in the tough marine environment, and
results can help researchers choose the building sites of wind its specific machines need further development.
turbines in this area. The frozen rotor method is also mentioned Although wind power is believed to be environmentally benign,
in this study, as a model for a rotating blade. Rathmann et al. compared to conventional fossil fuels, it still has effects on animals
[74] described a wind farm wake model that does not require and on human life, such as noise and visual impacts. In recent years,
any regularity of the wind farm layout in order to indicate the its climatic impact has drawn particular attention. These impacts
wake loss when evaluating wind turbine array efficiency. Wu may seem minor at present, but its potential long-term effects are
et al. [75] used large-eddy simulation (LES) and a Lagrangian not yet known, and thus cannot be ignored. With the development
scale-dependent dynamic subgrid-scale (SGS) model to investigate of wind power, the CFD method has been more and more frequently
the flow characteristics of the wind turbine wake. Results show used in a variety of wind project studies, and has been used to
that the tuning-free SGS model works well when compared with predict its environmental impact.
experimental results, and the actuator-disk model with rotation In short, with proper and supportive policies towards wind
(ADM-R) presents better usability to detect the turbine-induced power and a good understanding of its environmental impact, wind
force. In 2011, Wu et al. [76] studied the atmospheric boundary energy can be a clean and sustainable source of energy that can
layer flow and its interaction with wind turbines, using the same successfully replace fossil fuels.
method to obtain the spatial profiles of turbulent wake character-
istics.
Acknowledgement
Regarding the offshore wake part, the ENDOW project, which
started in the year 2000 and lasted for 3 years, first comprehen-
The authors wish to acknowledge the ICEE of the University of
sively evaluated existing offshore wake models and then enhanced
Hong Kong for supporting this study.
the wake and boundary-layer models to improve design tools for
the planning of large offshore wind farms [77].
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