Global perspectives on wind energy innovation: Policy impacts and component-level analysis

Xiaoyu Chen, Lin Zheng, Guotian Cai, Xiaoling Qi and Jiaxin He

Energy, 2025, vol. 319, issue C

Abstract: Wind energy stands as a pivotal renewable energy source, along with continuous technological advancements over the years. However, there is a lack of research on how to foster innovation relate wind components. This study develops patent search strategies and establish patent databases in wind energy and its components, alongside a manually collected policy database, across 112 countries from 1980 to 2020. The findings indicate a notable upturn in wind policies and patents from around 1995, peaking in 2010. The econometric results reveal both fiscal instruments and voluntary programs significantly foster innovation, particularly fiscal instruments in non-Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (non-OECD) countries. However, quotas, along with information and education, exhibit a detrimental effect overall. Moreover, contrary to common perception, the results show that regulation and legislation demonstrate significant potential in driving innovation in core and exclusive wind components, such as blades and control systems. Counterfactual analysis further reveals fiscal instruments contributed 123.7 % growth in wind patents, while voluntary programs contributed 3.1 %. Additionally, regulation and legislation contributed 77.9 % and 237.8 % growth in blade and control systems, respectively. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the impact of diverse policies on various types of innovations to foster advancements in wind technology.

Keywords: Wind energy; Policy; Innovation; Components; Patent analysis; Counterfactual analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225006425
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225006425

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135000

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().