Task 26 provided insights on the future costs of wind energy and factors that could drive costs higher or lower over time. As energy sector planners and grid operators look toward a future that could include much higher penetrations of variable renewable resources, the Task also explored the value components of wind power. Throughout its work, the Task developed and maintained consistent and transparent methodologies and data with the international community. These efforts facilitated ongoing and future comparisons between countries and across energy generation technologies. They also provided a means of grounding and validating work in wind power that occurs throughout the global community.

For decades, cost reduction in wind power generation has led to increasing power sector competitiveness. Over the past decade, these cost reductions have resulted from an array of technological advancements coupled with industry learning and price pressures from competing technologies. With the growing importance of wind energy in many markets, the wind research community must be able to discuss the specific costs of wind systems on the basis of sound and transparent methodologies.

IEA Wind Task 26 Cost of Wind Energy facilitated these discussions by surveying, applying, and innovating methods for determining the cost and value of wind energy across time and space.

The operating agent for Task 26 was Eric Lantz.

The Task 26 chapter in the Annual Report 2020 can be found here.