Regulation set to be biggest challenge facing wind sector

DNV GL – Energy CEO foresees offshore wind boom, with improving electricity storage helping renewables claim bigger share of the energy mix

Global wind generation will increase more than tenfold between 2019 and 2050 as declining costs and increasing efficiency help windfarms provide nearly one-third of the world’s electricity by mid-century, risk management consultancy DNV GL forecasts. “The only thing we can say for sure is that the cost will keep coming down,” says Ditlev Engel, chief executive of DNV GL – Energy. That leaves regulation as the biggest source of uncertainty, he says. Despite wind capacity being easy to scale, he identifies the difficulty in obtaining permission to build windfarms, particularly onshore, as remaining a bottleneck. Offshore windfarms, although less problematic in terms of local community oppositi