The progress of wind energy throughout the world will depend strongly on further cost reductions even if it may be argued that taking environmental costs into consideration puts wind energy in a favourable position already today. The designer of a wind turbine rotor usually perceive the cost minimisation problem as maximising annual energy capture keeping the costs of the design within reasonable limits, and at the same time make sure the design survive both extreme events and a high number of fatigue cycles. This overwhelming task calls for sophisticated dynamic models, cost models and a cumbersome trial-and-error process.
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