IEA Wind Task 26

For decades, cost reduction in wind power generation has led to competitive levels with conventional technologies. However, thanks to recent developments like reductions in investment cost, increased performance, and a significant market impact on natural gas prices, the cost of wind power has become more competitive relative to other generation options.

As wind becomes an important source of electricity generation in many markets and competes with other technologies in terms of new installed capacity, governments and the wind research community must be able to discuss the specific costs of wind systems on the basis of a sound methodology. IEA Wind Task 26 Cost of Wind Energy facilitates these discussions by surveying methods for determining the value of wind energy and assessing methodologies for projecting future wind technology costs.

Expected Results

1. Enhanced international collaboration and coordination in the field of cost of wind energy
2. Updated data, analysis and understanding of on-shore wind energy cost trends and comparison among countries
3. Identification of the primary offshore wind energy cost drivers and the variation of these costs among participating countries
4. Collaborative journal articles summarizing and further analyzing work conducted to understand trends in cost of energy
5. Collaborative journal articles exploring issues related to the value of wind energy.