Wind Turbine Aerodynamics

In order to reach the goal of 100% renewable energy in energy systems, wind energy, as a pioneer of renewable energy, is developing very quickly all over the world. To reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), the size of a single wind turbine has been increased to 12 MW nowadays and it will increase further in the near future.
Big wind turbines and their associated wind farms have many advantages but also challenges in aerodynamics, aero-elasticity and aeroacoustics. The typical effects are mainly related to the increase in Reynolds number and blade flexibility. This Special Issue collects some important works addressing the aerodynamic challenges appearing in such development. Aerodynamics of wind turbines is a classic concept and is the key for wind energy development as all other parts rely on the accuracy of its aerodynamic models. There are numerous books and articles dealing with wind turbine aerodynamic problems and models. As a good example, the wind energy handbook by Burton et al. [ 1 ] gives an overview of wind turbine aerodynamics and its related problems. There are also several special issues on wind turbine aerodynamics. This author edited a special issue on aerodynamics of offshore wind energy systems and wakes [ 2 ] in 2014, which collected state-of-the-art research articles on the development of offshore wind energy.