Wind Turbine Industry Steps Up to Global Demand

Emerging Energy Research (EER), a research and advisory firm analyzing clean and renewable energy markets, expects the global installed wind base to grow more than fivefold from its 2007 total of 94 GW to more than 576 GW by 2020. Rapid growth is expected in the U.S. and China.

As a result of this booming demand, competition for wind turbine orders has moved from project-driven, national agreements to multi-year frame agreements spanning several regions. These orders increasingly focus on supply of multi-megawatt turbines as the global wind market has made a steady shift toward 1.5 MW and larger turbines, encouraging a number of new suppliers to enter, according to EER’s market study “Global Wind Turbine Markets and Strategies 2008-2020.”
EER anticipates the current seller’s market for wind turbines will continue in the short term, while the industry builds out for a new phase of stable, global growth, stimulating the market to surpass $55 billion by 2015. According to EER’s forecasts, global wind demand will continue to boom, increasing from nearly 20,000 MW in 2007 to just under 50,000 MW in annual installations by 2020 and requiring massive investments in turbine supply.

North American Windpower