As climate change continues to become a more significant threat, nations around the globe are investing in various alternatives to conventional power plants. Among these alternatives, wind energy is undeniably one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources.
The advantages of wind power make it an excellent candidate to replace oil and natural gasses as the planet’s primary energy source. With enough time, wind power, alongside other renewable electricity sources, will be able to fulfill most of the world’s energy needs.
The cons of wind energy may seem insignificant compared to the drawbacks of conventional power plants. Still, suppose the international community decides to shift towards clean energy completely. In that case, it has to address the disadvantages of wind energy.
Read on to learn more about the challenges and disadvantages of wind energy that the wind energy sector and renewable energy industry needs to overcome.
7 Disadvantages of Wind Energy
Lindy Energy identified the 7 disadvantages of wind power
- High Initial Development Costs
- Wind Energy Is Less Reliable Than Traditional Energy
- Wind Farms Can Negatively Impact Wildlife
- Wind Turbines Have Short Lifespans
- Good Wind Sites Are Far From Cities
- Wind Turbines Require Regular Maintenance
- Turbines Cause Noise And Visual Pollution
Initial Development Costs Are High
Despite the falling costs of wind energy as it gains popularity, the upfront cost of starting a wind project remains relatively high. Like solar energy, wind power plants require substantial investments before they become economically viable.
Energy suppliers generally build large wind farms with the help of loans, subsidies, and financial incentives from the government. In the United States, federal programs use subsidies and incentives to stimulate the growth and deployment of wind energy across the country.
Governments worldwide provide these incentives to ensure wind energy’s long-run operating costs have a chance to offset the substantial initial development investment. Without government assistance or incentives, a wind project will likely fail.
Installing multiple wind turbines can also get quite expensive—the average wind turbine costs around $1,200,000 per megawatt of electricity-generating capacity.
Since most commercial wind turbines have a capacity of 2-3 megawatts, the average cost for each is in the $2-4 million range. On the other hand, offshore wind turbines are much more expensive as they have a capacity as large as 12 megawatts.
With the high price of installing wind turbines, onshore and offshore wind farms are not the most attractive investment opportunities. These wind farms could take around six years to break even.
The required land space of wind farms can also make wind energy seem unappealing to landowners and government land managers. There are plenty of more profitable and cost-effective ways to use plots of land.
Another con of wind energy is the hesitation of energy suppliers to develop wind farms. Given the low operating costs and energy efficiency of conventional power plants, the energy prices of fossil fuels are lower in the long run.
However, in the past decade, the renewable energy industry employed new technology to reduce the cost of wind energy. In the United States, the nameplate capacity of wind turbines has increased by 180 percent since 1999, making wind energy farms more efficient and cost-effective.
Wind Energy Is Less Reliable Than Traditional Energy
Modern society depends on a reliable and on-demand supply of electricity. Burning coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, and hydroelectric dams are responsible for almost all of the world’s electricity generation. Large cities and remote areas can rely on these power plants to supply power around the clock.
Wind farms, however, cannot provide this reliability yet. According to the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, wind power plants, like all energy sources, need a backup source of energy generation for times when the wind does not blow.
Wind plants can generate electricity from the wind’s kinetic energy as long as the wind blows. Still, there are times when strong winds are absent. A significant disadvantage of wind energy is that it is a variable energy source, meaning power plants cannot produce them on demand.
The output of wind farms can vary significantly in a single day, making them an unreliable energy source. On June 16, 2013, the total production of a British wind farm went from around 2.5 gigawatts to almost 0 gigawatts in a day, switching from the average expected output to zero in 24 hours.
Due to their erratic nature, wind farms cannot be total replacements for nuclear or fossil fuel power plants. Wind plants need conventional sources of electricity to increase their output when they do not produce energy.
The World Economic Forum claims wind farms should be viewed as “fuel savers.” When these farms generate power, they save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, cities will still need conventional power plants to compensate for the lack of wind energy production when it is not windy.
Wind Farms Can Negatively Impact Wildlife
Wind turbines are responsible for many bird and bat deaths worldwide. Spinning turbine blades kill over a million birds annually in the United States alone.
In the case of bats, they die from an effect called barotrauma, which happens when bats fly too close to a wind turbine. The movement of the turbine’s blades causes a drop in air pressure. The sudden pressure drop can damage a bat’s lungs, causing it to die.
According to the Biological Conservation journal, the hoary bat, a species found in North America, could be at risk of extinction due to mortality from wind farms. Like some birds, bats have low reproductive potential, requiring high adult survivorship to maintain their population.
Wind farms are also responsible for harmful indirect impacts on local wildlife populations. For example, the construction of wind farms can result in habitat loss, forcing wildlife out of their natural homes.
For wind energy to be a sustainable renewable energy resource, it is essential to appropriately site wind power projects to protect wildlife and their habitat.
Although wind energy can somewhat affect wildlife, unlike fossil fuels, wind farms do not emit greenhouse gasses. Therefore, a wind farm’s environmental impact is less significant.
Wind Turbines Have Short Lifespans
The lifespan of the average wind turbine is 20 to 25 years, and they are unlikely to last much longer than this because of the extreme loads they carry. This short lifespan is due to the structure of the wind turbines themselves. Since the turbine blades and the tower permanently face one end, they take the brunt of the full force of the wind and are susceptible to all kinds of damage.
As the wind speed rises, the loads these turbines carry also increase, reaching 100 times greater than the design loads at the rated wind speed. Because of this, most wind turbines shut down to protect themselves when faced with higher wind speeds.
Wind turbine blades are particularly prone to damage. As a moving component, these blades wear due to high fatigue levels. They are also susceptible to damage from birds and other objects that may strike them.
Blades and gearboxes are already in need of replacement after ten years of service; therefore, they are unlikely to last another decade. A single wind turbine costs $200,000 to break down, not including any profit from selling or recycling materials, which is time-consuming and not usually cost-effective.
Instead of decommissioning, the site is most often repowered, which means the energy supplier replaces the turbine with newer technology.
Electrical failures, being the most common reason for wind turbine failure, are primarily because of the area’s high humidity levels. Likewise, the moisture in the air can weaken the turbine’s metal components, such as the gearbox, bearings, and yaw gear. About half of wind turbines fail due to a breakage in the control system’s electrical components.
Good Wind Sites Are Far From Cities
Unfortunately, wind and solar installers cannot use turbines and panels to harness energy in urban areas efficiently. Like solar panels, the best sites for wind turbines are often remote locations with existing farms and ranches.
Plains and cattle land are good wind sites because there are no artificial structures to disrupt the wind. Consequently, wind power plants are far from urban areas where electricity is needed the most.
Energy suppliers must build transmission lines to bring wind energy to cities and residential areas. Therefore, places with a high population density will find it difficult to access clean and renewable energy.
However, technological advancements may make portable wind turbines a viable option. A portable turbine called The Mobile Power Station can power small devices and most appliances. It is a 10-kilowatt turbine that fits in a 20-inch shipping container and sets up in one hour without needing site improvements or wind energy consulting.
The Mobile Power Station can help in disaster relief efforts by generating energy for people who need usable electricity but are constrained by the limitations of the power grid.
Wind Turbines Require Regular Maintenance
A significant disadvantage of wind energy is that wind turbines require too much maintenance to remain in optimal operating conditions. Wind turbines’ actual amount of upkeep depends on their surrounding environment and sustained damage.
Generally, these need to be checked by wind turbine technicians two or three times per year, and this number may need to increase as the turbine ages.
While the mechanical parts of wind turbines are less prone to damage, areas such as the electrics, electronics, hydraulics, and sensors need frequent upkeep and repair. On the other hand, maintenance for gearboxes, rotor blades, and generators are highly complex, requiring expensive spare parts and extended downtimes.
Offshore wind turbines are particularly difficult to maintain because of their geographical location. Along with the problems of land-based turbines, offshore assets suffer from corrosion, erosion, and biofouling.
Operation and maintenance costs can be high, costing energy providers $42,000 – $48,000 annually in the United States. A German study on wind turbines showed that upkeep costs about 1-2 Euro Cents per kilowatt-hour.
Turbines Cause Noise And Visual Pollution
Rural areas with few inhabitants host most wind turbine farms. For individuals living close together, noise and aesthetics can be a problem — some believe wind farms are excessively noisy and unattractive.
However, energy providers can solve this issue by installing wind turbines in rural locations where few people will be affected. Providers can also establish wind farms where landowners consent to having them and are appropriately compensated.
Many people have differing viewpoints on the aesthetics of wind turbines. While most people appreciate their sleek, contemporary style, there will always be others who do not.
Technology is also improving, reducing the concerns connected with noise pollution. The scientific consensus suggests that the slight noise that wind turbines produce does not affect human health.
Wind plants are tranquil compared to other industrial facilities like manufacturing plants. Still, most of these facilities are in urban rather than rural areas. In remote locations, background noise tends to be lower than in urban residential areas.
Wind turbines produce broadband noise as the turbine blades encounter turbulence in the passing air. Broadband noise is the “whooshing” sound that wind turbines make while operating.
Some wind turbines, especially the older ones, produce tonal humming sounds. Mechanical components and unusual wind currents interact with turbine parts causing these sounds.
Aside from the noises that the turbine produces, sounds from the construction phase of a wind project can also disturb the local community. Noises from heavy equipment and transport trucks contribute to the aggregated noise pollution of the wind industry.
Conclusion
There is an undeniable dire need for change in the energy production industry. Climate change is an urgent problem, and resolving it would require implementing drastic changes and effective long-term solutions.
As the world exhausts the supply of traditional energy sources like fossil fuels, oils, natural gasses, and coal, the demand for renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, significantly increases. The international community is doing what it can to reduce the carbon emissions of fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources.
Wind energy continues to be one of the best choices for sustainable energy production thanks to technological advancements, the energy efficiency of wind turbines, and the increasing cost of non-renewable energy sources such as coal and fossil fuels.
As long as the sun shines on the Earth, there will be an infinite wind supply. With that in mind, the wind energy industry has the potential to relieve the global economy’s reliance on oil and natural gas, alleviating the problem of greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions.
Wind power plants may have drawbacks, but these are negligible compared to their advantages. As it stands, wind energy advantages outweigh the disadvantages of wind energy and traditional sources of electricity.
Although wind energy pros are substantial, the disadvantages of wind energy still need to be addressed if it is going to replace conventional energy providers. We recommend assessing the pros and cons of wind power.
Wind energy is already present in several countries. It might grow even more prevalent as energy storage technology continues to improve. With more sustained support, the wind power industry can provide most of the world’s electricity, offering clean energy, jobs, and a better environment.