Chapter 6 focuses on the role of SEA in wind power development, highlighting the importance of managing wind power development—onshore and offshore—beyond the individual project level. It explains how SEA can assist in identifying environmental and socio-economic risks of implementing renewable energy policies, plans, and programs (PPPs), especially those concerned with wind energy, at a broader landscape or regional scale, and particularly in understanding cumulative impacts.
This chapter outlines existing global wind power capacity and provides insights into environmental, social, and economic challenges associated with wind farm development. Key issues such as deforestation, habitat disruption, bird and bat mortality, noise, and local community engagement are discussed. This chapter also explores the socio-economic benefits and risks of wind power, including employment opportunities, human rights concerns, and the importance of gender inclusivity and benefit-sharing. Offshore wind power is treated separately, with a focus on installation types and environmental considerations.
6.1 Why SEA is Important to Wind Power
6.2 Existing SEA Guidance/Guidelines for the Wind Power Sub-Sector
6.3 Installed Wind Power Capacity
6.4 Onshore Wind Power Generation
6.5 Offshore Wind Power Generation
Wind power, which includes both onshore (land-based) and offshore (sea-based) developments, plays an important role in shifting the world toward cleaner energy. In 2023, there were about 1,020 gigawatts (GW) of wind power installed worldwide, with most of it onshore (945 GW) and some offshore (75 GW).
Wind farms can lead to issues like cutting down forests, disturbing animal habitats, and harming birds and bats which can collide with the turbines. SEA helps spot these issues and identify how multiple projects in the same area could have bigger cumulative impacts, especially when wind power is used alongside solar energy.
Wind farms don’t just affect the environment—they also impact local economies and communities. While they often take up farmland, wind farms can usually share space with activities like farming or grazing animals. These projects create jobs, but there are concerns about fair working conditions and making sure women have equal opportunities. Sharing the benefits of wind projects with local communities—such as letting people invest in them—can also help gain local support.
Offshore wind farms add another layer of complexity. They can affect marine life and bird migration routes, so it is important to carefully plan where to build them. SEA helps determine how such developments might affect the ocean environment and how to reduce conflicts with other activities in the sea, like fishing or shipping.
For wind power to be truly sustainable, it is important to manage the overall environmental and socio-economic impacts, involve local communities in decision-making, and respect human rights, especially when sourcing materials to build turbines. SEA plays a key role in making sure that wind power development is both environmentally friendly and beneficial for people.
SEA also helps policymakers and planners ensure the wind power development is undertaken responsibly and sustainably. It looks at the bigger picture to understand how wind power development might affect the environment and local communities, both locally and across entire regions. This helps to streamline future environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) for individual wind farm projects and saves costs by addressing potential problems early on.