The total capital value of wind farms worldwide has reached approximately £1.9trn, according to figures from Chaucer. It says that with so much capital invested in clean energy assets it is vital that those wind farms and solar farms are adequately insured.

Offshore wind farms in tropical and subtropical regions, such as those on the US Eastern Seaboard and in South East Asia, can find it harder to obtain competitive insurance cover. Those regions suffer higher risk from tropical storms such as hurricanes and typhoons, as climate change increases the impact of these weather events. Ironically one the biggest threats to wind farms is from more severe weather caused by climate change. Older wind farms and wind farms with larger turbine sizes can also find it harder to get the most cost-effective insurance cover.

Alex Nelson, class underwriter at Chaucer specialising in renewable energy projects, says: “Wind farms are facing a growing threat from the new normal of extreme weather caused by climate change. At the same time some of the global wind farm stock is reaching the end of its originally intended lifespan which makes those wind farms more vulnerable and more costly to insure.

“The surge in construction activity combined with cost inflation over the last two years has pushed up the cost of building, maintaining and repairing damaged wind farms.”

The research is based on build costs and output of 100 of the world’s biggest wind farms.

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