Global Wind Power Tracker Methodology

This article is part of the Global Wind Power Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

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Architecture

Global Energy Monitor’s Global Wind Power Tracker uses a two-level system for organizing information, consisting of both a database and wiki pages with further information. The database tracks individual wind farm phases and includes information such as project owner, status, installation type, and location. A wiki page for each wind farm is created within the Global Energy Monitor wiki. The database and wiki pages are updated annually.

Inclusion Criteria

The Global Wind Power Tracker includes onshore and offshore electricity generating projects. Wind projects for captive industry, including hydrogen production, are also tracked. The Global Wind Power Tracker aims to comprehensively track all project phases larger than 10MW globally. Below threshold projects are also included for some countries.

Status Categories

• Announced: Proposed projects that have been described in corporate or government plans but have not yet taken concrete steps such as applying for permits.
• Pre-construction: Projects are actively moving forward in seeking governmental approvals, land rights, or financing.
• Construction: Site preparation or equipment installation are underway.
• Operating: The project has been formally commissioned; the commercial operation date has been achieved.
• Shelved: Suspension of operation has been announced. The status is marked as ‘shelved - inferred 2 y’ if no progress has been observed for at least two years.
• Cancelled: A cancellation announcement has been made. The status is marked as ‘cancelled - inferred 4 y’ if no progress has been observed for at least four years.
• Retired: The project has been decommissioned.
• Mothballed: The project is disused, but not dismantled.

Installation Types

• Onshore: projects that utilize wind turbines to generate electricity from wind energy. These farms consist of multiple wind turbines, typically arranged in rows, located on land.
• Offshore: projects that utilize wind turbines to generate electricity from wind energy located in bodies of water, typically in coastal areas or at sea.
  • Offshore hard mount: have wind turbines that are usually designed for installation in water no deeper than 60 meters and are typically larger and taller than onshore turbines, with some models capable of producing up to 15 MW of power. These turbines are mounted directly onto the sea floor.
  • Offshore floating: are an emerging technology designed for installation in deeper waters, where the water depth is greater than 60 meters. The turbine is floated on a platform and anchored to the sea floor via cables, allowing it to remain stable in rough seas.
  • Offshore mount unknown: the project is an offshore project, but the mount type is not specified.
• Unknown: Installation Type not specified

Research Process

The Global Wind Power Tracker data set draws on various public data sources, including:

• Government data on individual power wind farms (such as UK’s Renewable Energy Planning Database and the U.S. EIA 860 Electric Generator Inventory), country energy and resource plans, and government websites tracking wind farm permits and applications;
• Reports by state-owned and private power companies;
• News and media reports;
• Local non-governmental organizations tracking wind farms or permits.

A partial list of data sources can be found here.

Global Energy Monitor researchers perform data validation by comparing our dataset against proprietary and public data such as S&P Global’s World Energy Power Plant database and the World Resource Institute’s Global Power Plant Database, as well as various company and government sources.

Wiki Pages

For each wind farm, a wiki page is created on Global Energy Monitor’s wiki. Under standard wiki convention, all information is linked to a publicly-accessible published reference, such as a news article, company or government report, or a regulatory permit. In order to ensure data integrity in the open-access wiki environment, Global Energy Monitor researchers review all edits of project wiki pages.

Mapping

To allow easy public access to the results, Global Energy Monitor worked with Earth Genome to develop a map-based and table-based interface. In the case of exact coordinates, locations have been visually determined using Google Maps, Google Earth, Wikimapia, or OpenStreetMap. Exact locations for proposed projects, if available, are obtained from sources such as permit applications, other government documentation, or company reports. If the location of a project or proposal is not known, Global Energy Monitor identifies the most accurate location possible based on available information.

Global Wind Power Tracker Release Notes

June 2024

• This update covers research on Europe and China as per United Nations’ region and subregion definitions.
• Project phases below the 10 MW global threshold are provided for some countries when the data were readily available. Data on the below threshold phases is available in the downloadable dataset in a separate tab called ‘Below Threshold.’
• A new data field has been added to indicate when a project phase is dedicated for green hydrogen production.
• Operator information is no longer researched or updated for countries outside of China.
• GEM ID formats have changed from an L8+5 digit number to L1+11 digit number for location IDs and a G8+5 digit number to a G1+11 digit number. Previous GEM ID numbers have been preserved. For example, a previous GEM ID of L812345 is now L100000812345.
• Shelved and cancelled statuses have been broken down into two subcategories depending on if there was an announcement of delay or cancellation, or if the status is inferred by lack of observed progress.
• The June 2024 release includes the change from the column name “Country” to “Country/Area”. The Country/Area column presents energy data within various economic contexts, and the geographical unit does not strictly follow political boundaries.

December 2023

• This update covers research on Africa, Americas, Asia, and Oceania as per United Nations’ region and subregion definitions.
• Project phases below the 10 MW global threshold are provided for some countries when the data were readily available. Data on the below threshold phases is available in the downloadable dataset in a separate tab called ‘Below Threshold.’

May 2023

• This update covers research on Europe, Cyprus, and mainland China, as per United Nations’ region and subregion definitions.
• Project phases below the 10 MW global threshold are provided for some countries when the data were readily available. Data on the below threshold phases is available in the downloadable dataset in a separate tab called ‘Below Threshold.’

January 2023

• All global regions with the exception of Europe and China have been researched for this update.
• Global Energy Monitor has transitioned to using the United Nations’ region and subregion definitions.
• The Global Wind Power Tracker has replaced the word "development" in the status domain with the term "pre-construction" to support consistent language across all of Global Energy Monitor’s trackers. The definition of "pre-construction" is consistent with the tracker’s previous definition of "development."
• Global Energy Monitor has adopted the name "Türkiye" as a replacement for "Turkey."