Assessing Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy in Iran with Focus on Development of Wind Power Plants

As a key economic element, energy plays an important role in the development of societies. Economic growth and its urgent need for energy highlight the need for optimal energy use. Wind energy is an energy source that has become an increasingly common source of electricity. In this study, socio-economic impacts of the cost of electricity generated by wind power plants were assessed with Iran as the focus of this study. The environmental impacts of wind energy were also considered by reviewing and analyzing research papers. Studies showed that although the use of wind energy in Iran began in Manjil in northern Iran, no significant progress has been made in this field despite all the efforts over the past years. The results indicated that the initial cost of launching wind turbines was the most important factor in the failure of this technology. The costs of purchasing turbines, construction of roads, provision of electrical infrastructure, project management, installation of turbines, insurance premiums, grid connections, and power lines were shown to affect costs of energy production. Furthermore, operation and maintenance costs, the choice of installation location, increasing production capacity, expansion of the energy market, and policies in the country can play an essential role in determining the cost of wind energy production. Given that power generation using wind turbines are economical, it is recommended that turbines be installed in suitable windy locations. In addition, considering that one of the crises facing the world and especially Iran is environmental pollution, utilizing energies such as wind energy for generating electricity is advised due to their lower pollutant emissions and lower economic and social costs.