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Software update for world’s wind farms could power millions more homes

An AI that predicts wind changes could boost wind turbine efficiency by 0.3 per cent, which globally would amount to enough extra electricity to keep a country running

By Matthew Sparkes

21 May 2023

A wind farm in South Lanarkshire, UK

A small efficiency gain for every wind turbine would lead to a big boost globally

Justin Paget/Digital Vision/Getty Images

A simple software upgrade could improve the efficiency of wind turbines by ensuring they face directly into the wind more of the time. If the technique were rolled out worldwide, it could boost electricity production by 5 terawatt-hours a year – about the same amount as is consumed annually by Albania or 1.7 million average UK homes.

Wind turbines work most efficiently when directly facing oncoming wind, but changing wind patterns mean they must regularly …

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