Co-winner of the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, industry legend and ‘godfather of wind energy’ Andrew Garrad discusses his long and distinguished career, the sector’s half-century of growth and what’s in store for the future.

There are few in the world of wind power better placed to discuss its transformational impact on the global energy mix than Andrew Garrad. Joint winner of the 2024 edition of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize), along with his colleague Henrik Stiesdal, Garrad has overseen the emergence of electricity from turbine technology since his Oxford University undergraduate days – when renewables were a ‘fringe’ subject – through to his retirement half a century later, when wind power has taken its place as a mainstream contributor to the UK energy mix. In December of last year, wind accounted for 41.2% – its highest-ever level – while gas-fired generation reduced to its lowest share in four years.

This steep growth trajectory has been made possible...