Nov 9 2010
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the global wind industry will go through a low-phase in 2010. This outlook was based on the capacity of new megawatts installed this year.
According to clean energy research organization, both offshore and onshore wind installations this year are anticipated to reach an overall total of 37.7 GW, which is 20% less compared to the previous year. However, these installations will increase to 45 GW in the next year. Bloomberg anticipates that the global wind industry will continue to increase in the upcoming years and an average of 48 GW is expected to be included between the period of 2012 and 2013.
According to the report, although growth operations in 2010 will reflect almost the same as the previous year, growth rates differ from region to region as nations in other developing countries are leading the way. Once again, China will lead the industry by installing 25% more capacity compared to the previous year. Last year the country had set a new world record with 14,000 MW of wind energy.
However, in the U.S. new capacity installations are expected to reduce by 39% in 2010 compared to the previous year. The U.S. market continues to face a number of obstacles such as reduced power prices, financial crisis and an uncertain policy environment. In addition, natural gas prices continue to remain a major problem as they tend to reduce the price of gas-fired electricity. These factors represent a major hurdle to project developers, who find it difficult to negotiate power purchase agreements with utilities.