Energy systems (ES) are seriously affected by climate variability since energy demand and supply are dependent on atmospheric conditions at several time scales and by the impact of severe extreme weather events (EWEs). EWEs affect ES and can cause partial or total blackouts due to energy supply disruptions. These events significantly impact essential infrastructures and are considered one of the main causes of wide-area electrical disturbances worldwide. A comprehensive review is carried out based on 210 published studies using searches from Scopus and Google Scholar databases, to assess the impacts of EWEs—such as extreme storms, wind, and lightning events, heat, or cold waves, and freezing—on ES and their associated infrastructures—production, transmission, and distribution—worldwide, with a particular focus on wind energy systems (WES). Strategies and measures are critically reviewed and synthesized to minimize and mitigate the impact of EWEs, protect, and adapt the systems to maintain regular operations even when these events occur. Finally, physical modifications to systems and the incorporation of new technological solutions such as energy storage systems (ESS), distributed energy systems (DES), and microgrids, can enhance the network resilience and mitigate the EWEs effects.

The extratropical cyclones that originate in the North Atlantic and propagate towards Europe are one of the major natural hazards in mid-latitudes. In December 2019, three consecutive extratropical cyclones named Daniel, Elsa, and Fabien affected Portugal. In this study, the synoptic and upper-level dynamic conditions associated with these systems during their impact in mainland Portugal are evaluated. The persistent intense zonal flow that crossed the entire Atlantic revealed by the integrated vapor transport and the vertically integrated moisture flux favored these hydro-meteorological systems. The patterns of mean sea level pressure, geopotential, potential vorticity, total column water, and convective available potential energy were used to characterize the influence of every system over mainland Portugal. A cluster analysis of monthly precipitation permitted the classification of the country into four main regions named the Northwest, Centre West, Northeast and Centre East, and South region on which the analysis was focused. The three storms affected every region on consecutive days by the middle of December, producing extreme precipitation events and significant effects on the accumulated rainfall and runoff, particularly in the Northwest, Centre West, Northeast and Centre East regions. As consequence, multiple incidences of damage were reported along mainland Portugal. However, an assessment of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) on time scales of 1, 3, 6, and 12 months revealed a positive impact of rainfall increase on the attenuation of short and long term accumulated drought conditions, particularly in the center and north regions.

The electricity produced through renewable resources is dependent on the variability of weather conditions and, thus, on the availability of the resource, as is the case with wind energy. This study aims to assess the wind resource available and the wind energy potential (WEP) during the December months for the three years 2017, 2018, and 2019, in southwestern Europe, when several high-impact storms affected the region. Additionally, a comparison of Prandtl’s logarithmic law and Power-law equations for extrapolation of the vertical wind profile is performed for onshore conditions, to evaluate the differences in terms of energy production, with the use of different equations. To assess the effect of the strong winds associated with the storms, 10 m wind components are used, with a 6-hourly temporal resolution, for the December months over the southwestern Europe region (30° N–65° N; 40° W–25° E). Results are compared to the climatology (1981–2010) and show an increase of wind intensity of 1.86 m·s⁻¹ in southwestern Europe during December 2019, and a decrease up to 2.72 m·s⁻¹ in December 2018. WEP is calculated for the selected wind turbine, 4 MW E-126 EP3—ENERCON, as well as the values following the wind resource record, that is, (i) higher values in December 2019 in the offshore and onshore regions, reaching 35 MWh and 20 MWh per day, respectively, and (ii) lower values in December 2018, with 35 MWh and 15 MWh per day for offshore and onshore. Differences in WEP when using the two equations for extrapolation of wind vertical profile reached 60% (40%) in offshore (onshore) regions, except for the Alps, where differences of up to 80% were reached. An additional analysis was made to understand the influence of the coefficients of soil roughness and friction used in each equation (Prandtl’s logarithmic law and Power-law), for the different conditions of onshore and offshore. Finally, it is notable that the highest values of wind energy production occurred on the stormy days affecting southwestern Europe. Therefore, we conclude that these high-impact storms had a positive effect on the wind energy production in this region.

In the extended winters from December 2017 to April 2021, numerous high-impact storms affected the Iberian Peninsula (IP) with heavy precipitation and/or strong winds. Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of these events, synoptic conditions, large-scale dynamics associated with storms, and a climatological analysis to improve public awareness and natural disaster prevention. Variability analysis presents that their maximum intensity ranges from 955 hPa to 985 hPa, a two-to-four-day lifetime, and the highest frequency (eight events) occurred in January. At the instant of maximum intensity, anomalies presented low MSLP values (−21.6 hPa), high values of water vapor (327.6 kg m⁻¹s⁻¹) and wind speed at 250 hPa (29.6 m s⁻¹), high values of θe at 850 hPa (19.1 °C), SST (−1 °C), and Q_E (−150 W m⁻²), near Iberia. The values obtained during the storm impact days exceeded the 98th percentile values in a high percentage of days for daily accumulated precipitation (34%), instantaneous wind gusts (46%), wind speed at 10 m (47%), and concurrent events of wind/instantaneous wind gusts and precipitation (26% and 29%, respectively). These results allow us to characterize their meteorological impacts on the IP, namely those caused by heavy precipitation and wind.

Electricity production through renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, is dependent on the variability of weather conditions. Thus, this work aimed to assess the wind resource available and the wind energy potential (WEP) during recent December months (the three years 2017, 2018, 2019). These winters were characterized by the occurrence of high-impact storms. To understand the effect of the strong winds associated with the passage of the storms during these months, we used 10 m wind components (10-m U and V wind components). The fields were extracted at 00, 06, 12, and 18 UTC (6-hourly data) for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 December months over a geographical sector that covers the Iberian Peninsula (IP) region (35° N–45° N; 10° W–4° E) and compared to climatological values for the 1981–2010 period. The obtained results showed an increase of wind intensity of up to 1.2 m·s⁻¹ in IP during December 2017 and 2019 and a decrease of 1.2 m·s⁻¹ in December 2018 when compared with the respective climatology for the 1981–2010 period. This increase corresponded to an increase in the corresponding WEP. Therefore, our results agreed with the values of the wind energy produced during the analyzed months for the two countries, Portugal and Spain. Finally, it is notable that the highest values of wind energy production occurred on the days of the storms’ passage through the IP.