Wind energy industry is rapidly expanding all over the globe with wind farms becoming common sight in many developing countries. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) developing economies can seize economic and environmental benefits from wind power in the current crisis.
GWEC reports that according to current industry experience, a country which installs 1 GW of onshore wind energy per year from 2022-2027 could gain these economic and environmental benefits:
- US$19.3 billion in gross value added to national economies over the 25-year lifetime of wind farms;
- 114,000 jobs during the development, construction and installation phase of wind farms;
- 12,000 further jobs annually during the 25-year operations and maintenance phase of wind farms;
- 5.9 million homes powered with clean electricity from 2027;
- 290 million metric tonnes of CO2e saved over the lifetime of wind farms; and
- 34.6 million litres of water saved annually from 2027, which would otherwise be used for thermal generation.
The factors that hinder wind energy development in these countries include non-existent clear policy commitment, with no concrete wind energy targets and timelines to achieve these targets, non adequate transmission system infrastructure and investment, and also overly complex permitting frameworks to gain approvals for new wind energy projects.