Do Wind Turbines Work In Winter?

Written By Teacher: Elaine Makarevich

Elaine is a New Jersey educator with 30 years of teaching experience in grades K-6. The earth and the natural world have always been a focus of her life and throughout her career as her students learned critical lessons about their planet when visiting her indoor or outdoor classrooms.

If you’ve ever discussed renewable energy with students, you’ve likely encountered the common misconception that wind turbines don’t work in winter. Cold temperatures, ice, and snow can raise questions about their efficiency and reliability, especially in regions with harsh winters. Addressing these concerns helps students develop a deeper understanding of renewable energy technology and its role in a changing climate. MIT’s analysis of wind turbine performance in winter provides key insights into how modern wind turbines are designed to function year-round—even in extreme cold. To further explore this topic, SubjectToClimate offers a variety of lesson plans:

•  Elementary: The Wind Energy: Engineering and Art Lesson introduces students to wind energy through hands-on engineering and art activities.
•  Middle School: The Renewable Energy Algebra Lesson: Wind Energy challenges students to calculate how many wind turbines are needed to power a community.
•  High School: Wind, Solar, and Climate Change explores the role of wind and solar energy in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

These resources help clarify misconceptions and deepen students’ understanding of wind energy’s role in a changing climate.

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

Wind projects are generating electricity today in a wide variety of locations and environments, including cold climates like Finland and Sweden and extreme environments like the cold waters of the North Sea. Wind turbines in these environments are outfitted to cope with snow, ice, and extreme cold. International design standards actually require that wind turbines can work at temperatures down to -4° Fahrenheit. Turbines engineered for cold climates—using technologies like cold-resistant steel and heaters to warm them—can work at temperatures down to -22° Fahrenheit.

In the United States, data from 2001 to 2013 shows that the performance of wind farms during winter months is about average. Even when it’s cold, output continues to be high in regions where winter means snow and frigid temperatures, including New England and the Midwest.

But ice can be a problem for turbines that are not prepared to operate in icy conditions.