“A variety of environmental effects, eg, hailstorms, snow, rain showers, wind gusts, icing, extreme temperatures, lightning, sea water, ultraviolet light, and sandy winds, degrade the blades of wind turbines over their working lifetimes. This degradation leads to reduction in aerodynamic efficiency and power production, eg, the degradation caused by erosion on the leading edge affects the drag and the lift. Depending on the drag increase and lift decrease, the loss of the annual energy production of wind turbines can range from 2% to 25%.” —Luis Bartolomé and Julie Teuwen, Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands — Wind Energy, September 17, 2018
https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=139
