Overview
- A Nature Communications analysis of hourly winds from 1940 to 2023 at 100 meters height finds the 50‑year reference wind (U50) strengthening, with increases across 63% of global coastal regions.
- More than 40% of operating and planned offshore turbines in Europe and Asia are already exposed to winds exceeding the IEC Class III design threshold.
- Over 60% of the at‑risk parks in Europe and Asia lie where maximum wind speeds are still rising, and in Europe 74% of installed parks sit in regions with increasing U50 around an average of roughly 40 m/s.
- IEC design classes cap reference winds at 37.5 m/s (Class III), 42.5 m/s (Class II) and 50 m/s (Class I), and extreme winds already account for 55% of wind‑turbine failures.
- The study cites Typhoon Yagi in 2024, which toppled six turbines in Hainan causing damages above $8 million, and notes Germany’s 1,639 offshore turbines (9.2 GW; 25.7 TWh in 2024) to underscore the operational stakes.