Essay by Eric Worrall
More bad news for fragile, weather dependent power generation systems – but send more money.
Climate change could make ‘droughts’ for wind power 15% longer, study says
30 July 2025 11:24
Extreme “wind droughts” that reduce power output from turbines for extended periods could become 15% longer by the end of the century across much of the northern hemisphere under a moderate warming scenario.
…
According to the study, “prominent” wind droughts have already been documented in Europe, the US, northeastern China, Japan and India.
As the planet warms, wind droughts will become longer in the northern hemisphere and mid-latitudes – especially across the US, northeastern China, Russia and much of Europe – the paper says.
The study – which focuses on onshore wind – warns that “prolonged” wind droughts could “threaten global wind power security”.
However, they add that research into the effects of climate change on wind supply can help “prepare for and mitigate the adverse impacts” of these prolonged low-wind events.
…
Read more: https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-could-make-droughts-for-wind-power-15-longer-study-says/
The referenced study;
- Article
- Published: 28 July 2025
Prolonged wind droughts in a warming climate threaten global wind power security
Nature Climate Change (2025)Cite this article
Abstract
Prolonged low-wind events, termed wind droughts, threaten wind turbine electricity generation, yet their future trajectories remain poorly understood. Here, using hourly data from 21 IPCC models, we reveal robust increasing trends in wind drought duration at both global and regional scales by 2100, across low- and high-CO2 scenarios. These trends are primarily driven by declining mid-latitude cyclone frequencies and Arctic warming. Notably, the duration of 25-year return events is projected to increase by up to 20% under low warming scenarios and 40% under very high warming scenarios in northern mid-latitude countries, threatening energy security in these densely populated areas. Additionally, record-breaking wind drought extremes will probably become more frequent in a warming climate, particularly in eastern North America, western Russia, northeastern China and north-central Africa. Our analysis suggests that ~20% of existing wind turbines are in regions at high future risk of record-breaking wind drought extremes, a factor not yet considered in current assessments.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02387-x
We already knew wind droughts are a big problem for people who mistakenly think there will always be wind power available;
And its not just the Northern Hemisphere – Australia has continent scale wind droughts as well.
Wind droughts can last for months. From 2017;
If climate change were to make this worse, driving greater weather extremes, alternating between wind droughts and the kind of destructive storms which blacken the skies, blast solar panels with giant hail, and wreak havoc on anything fragile and weather exposed in their path, there is no place for renewables in the world’s future energy mix.
Anyone who thinks a few minutes or even a few hours of battery backup can make this right is math challenged.
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Which will, Of course, cause wind to be more than 95% ineffective on days when it would normally be 80% ineffective. If wind can’t generate effectively on unfavorable weather days/nights it has no place in the Grid generation pool. Nor does any generation source that can’t supply when demand calls for it.
Renewables???UNRELIABLES!!!This is only the case for unwise nations that make themselves dependent upon wind and solar.
Math challenged OR Huffing too many Unicorn Fharts
It’s reasonably safe to say that when it comes to do with anything climate it’s poorly understood.
The climate changes, if only they could get past that.
The non-existent climate crisis seems to be just a cacophony of retarded people babble now. It’s scary that they don’t know this.
What nonsense. But anyway, the grifting wind industry won’t be around much longer, let alone the end of the century. To think that it will be is laughable.
Unreliables may not be around for another 75 years, but then –
Larger and larger wind farms are their own worst enemy.
By extracting kinetic energy from atmospheric circulation, the wind is slowed. The ideal velocity reduction is to ~1/3rd its initial velocity, presuming the wind turbines are properly spaced. Then, the velocity is restored from the overall atmospheric circulation. However, wind turbines are too close together in all wind fleets, and inhibit the refreshment of the velocity. Measurements of the proper spacing compared to the theoretical spacing were only done in the past decade, so wind fleets are constructed even more densely rather than less. A consequence of too high energy extraction is to stall weather systems, leading to “stagnant high pressure systems” with low wind velocities. This effect will continue and worsen as long as the wind fleet exists and grows. Huge wind fleets are, then, a cause of climate change, as well as environmental and ecological degradation! It is curious how the downside of renewable energy was and is rarely studied; so rarely that 30 years of construction preceded the proper studies of their effects. Coal and nuclear plants are not given such cavalier treatment – just the opposite.
Think what this will do to increase persistence of heat domes.
We’re back to bolding again, eh. Downvote.
And let’s not forget “wake effects” on downwind turbines. You can only install so many.
“These trends are primarily driven by declining mid-latitude cyclone frequencies and Arctic warming.”
Oh, just the warm phase of the AMO then, that will pass.
Germany had to coin a new word for that—dunkelflaute.
I had to look that up. It sounded like a great Bavarian brew that I hadn’t tried yet at my local German bar. I would’ve looked silly ordering one:
https://www.enjoyelec.net/dunkelflaute-challenges-and-solutions-in-renewable-energy/
As I posted above – what is wrong with these people? It’s just a cacophony of retarded people babble. I guess some of them get paid for it.
More like Dunkelphuqued
Apparently young girls hate dunkelflautes.
Here’s why –
An old geezer shuffling along the sidewalk in front of me and my 6-year old grandson bent over to pick up what he thought was a quarter, and a dunkelflaute accidently escaped from his rear end.
My grandson collapsed with laughter and kept making dunkelflautes with his lips for the next half-hour.
I was actually glad when his dunkelflaute drought kicked in, and I could converse with him again.
But of course he started with the dunkelflautes again as soon as we got home and he told his brother what happened, so then we had to endure a dunkelflautes competition between the two of them going on for the rest of the day.
Predictably, their sister was not impressed with dunkelflautes.
Just like the windmills enthusiasts aren’t.
I see the word “could” and stop.
At least it did not start with “scientists say…” include “hundreds of thousands of well paying, green, union jobs…” and end with “… our most vulnerable.”
Those expressions have become so ubiquitously boilerplate now, we can all recite along with the announcements.
Pathetic, isn’t it?
So climate change is going to cause more “wind droughts,” but climate change also causes more violent and volatile weather with more destructive winds, just like climate change causes biblical floods, but less rain, heavier snow, but loss of winter, hotter summers, but worse cold outbreaks. You know the old saying: “Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.”
Technically is is “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” 🙂
Back in the 80s I used your version and had it pointed out that there are various ways a clock could break that would allow it to be a different rate of correct time.
It’s indeed tragical that CLIMATE CHANGE coulda, woulda, shoulda cause muchas problemas. Qu, Shen, Zeng, Yang, Zhong, Yang, and Lu have my utter sympathy.
And foul wind is the least of it. CLIMATE CHANGE is also well known to cause gastritis, shin splints, shortness of pants, dog howling, the two-step, shanks, tops, slices, bad hair, worse hair, global discombobulation, riots, revolutions, car scratching, art vandalism, gutter balls, monkey paw, the galloping fantods, prestidigitation, calumny, obstreperousness, and other undesirables. It’s about time that real scientists like Qu, Shen, Zeng, Yang, Zhong, Yang, and Lu set their hair on fire in the public square.
I mean, windmills were supposed to be the cure. Now it seems they’re worse than useless. What about the children?
You left out obesity, sleep apnea, and impotence. Oh, wait. You did say other undesirables. My bad. 😉
Kidney Stones, Apathy, Delayed Borgorigmus…
But it seems to also be causing a rapid increase in skepticism, so that’s a good thing, right?
Surprised that China would allow all Chinese authors to say anything ‘sciency’ and potentially bad about wind. China is banking on it bankrupting western nations so that it can more easily achieve dominance.
maybe they figured this was so ridiculous that it didn’t matter.
Can any rational adult not see that the CCP is rubbing their hands together and chortling at the idiocy of the West signing up to buy more & more wind blades, solar panels, etc etc from the CCP in order to win the “fight against climate change”?
Of course the CCP, playing their traditional long-game, will re-invest some of the financial windfall (geddit?) from our idiotic Western governments in buying products themselves in order to extend their business life cycle maturity phase.
Same model? More hurricanes and more wind droughts?
These people need to give it up, they have lost, time for them to move on. Fire up all fossil fuel and nuclear generators. Build new fossil fuel and nuclear generators. Remove all wind and solar from the grid.
Do wind droughts in the UK”s Net Zero crusade create an opportunity for climate psychologists. It’s a serious question for a not serious policy regime and society.
Have all of these Chinese-named “scientists” petitioned the Chinese government to change their ways? I’m betting not.
I am shocked shocked I tell you that when you deal green new cards off the bottom of the deck to anointed profit maximisers that they’ll actually play them-
Bad bidding behaviour: Big batteries the dominant force as daily electricity prices pushed to record highs | RenewEconomy
I’m going to write a stern letter to their shareholders about this.
In any case becalmed or blackout Bowen is between a rock and a hard place with wind power-
5 reasons why wind farms are costing more in Australia – and what to do about it
and then there’s the transmission cost-
VNI West transmission network costs double as Victorian farmer protests
Nothing to see here, just some academics desperate to generate publications. Wind droughts were always going to put an end to the energy transition; the wind doesn’t need to get more acute or last longer.
The so-called transition has just about run its course but the nations that are stuck, Britain, Germany and Australia, still have some way to go before they bottom out.
See how well Polland is running on coal. https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/896b853c-d04b-4f94-932d-cdec67bffbdb?