IntelStor has investigated the potential for each of the top four wind-turbine OEMs in the market to fully exploit the resource potential as follows:

General Electric
The buying patterns for GE wind turbines in the U.S. indicates that NextEra, Invenergy, and Lincoln Clean Energy have distributed their contracts between the 2.X-116 & 2.X-127. Nevertheless, the market is shifting toward turbines with larger nameplate capacities, so while the 2.X-127 product family remains in demand, there will need to be an evolution towards the 3.X-137 or larger rotor soon.

This chart of GE wind turbines in the U.S. market indicates where they have products which line up with under-exploited wind resource potential.

The 2.5-127 up to 2.8-127 products are poised to remain strong at capturing more of the low-wind regime.

Vestas
Vestas enjoys a very robust sales potential in the market, finds IntelStor, thanks to their philosophy of achieving more supply chain leverage through a robust product portfolio. The buying patterns for Vestas wind turbines in the U.S. indicates that National Grid and EDP Renewables have distributed their contracts between several models while Enel has concentrated mainly on the V110 2.0.

The new Vestas V138 3.0MW product is likely to be competitive in the low-wind regime of the U.S. market, with higher AEP and a pedigree of reliability.

Siemens Gamesa 
The introduction of the SG2.9-129 allows Siemens Gamesa to remain competitive in the lower wind speed regime, but they are in need of a 3.XMW product with up to a 145-meter rotor to gain more traction on GE and Vestas, finds IntelStor.

IntelStor finds a brand loyalty of Siemens Gamesa customers but believes the company is in need of a 3.XMW turbine model.

Virtually ever customer of Siemens Gamesa buys more than one product model — demonstrating a brand loyalty. The 2.X-129 platform has yet to see most of their deals publicly announced, but there will be more opportunity to capture deals with such modest penetration in the low wind speed regime.

Nordex Acciona
The opening of the Nordex Acciona blade manufacturing facility in Mexico will help ease the production concerns on the AW125/3XXX and AW140/3XXX products. At 140 meters and 3.XMW, Nordex Acciona brings the most powerful turbine to the low-wind speed range.

Learn more here.

The post IntelStor analyzes U.S. buying patters of top four wind-turbine manufacturers appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.

Geographically, the Americas received a total of $35.3 billion (43.7% of total), followed by Asia Pacific with $20.7 billion (25.6% of total), Eastern Europe with $13.0 billion (16.1% of total), and lastly Africa and the Middle East with $11.7 billion (14.5% of total).

Brazil has been the single largest beneficiary of these investments, receiving $24.2 billion (30.0% of total) between 1998 and 2018 — adding more than 4.5 GW of wind energy to their allocation of 14.1 GW at the end of 2018. The remainder of capacity additions in Brazil were completed through a combination of public and private finance from other sources.

Africa and the Middle East are poised to see increased allocation of World Bank resources as capacity in Brazil ramps down along with a chill in the enthusiasm for renewables in some historically robust Eastern European markets.

Eastern Europe has seen fewer investments and those which are smaller in magnitude since their peak in 2012. Since then, the investment focus was shifted towards Asia Pacific as well as the Americas, with the latest trend in deal frequency and size favoring Africa and the Middle East.

The largest beneficiary of the World Bank’s global investment in wind energy has been Enel and its subsidiaries to the tune of almost $5 billion, or 6.1% of the total. They have deployed this capital in project developments in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Romania, Morocco, Bulgaria, Peru, and Russia thus far.

The majority (68.3%) of total investment has been made in the range of $100 to $500 million, but projects which require less than $100 million are equally as common for them to contribute finance (50.5% of total) as those projects which range from $100 to $500 million (46.5% of total).

The full IntelStor Global Wind Energy Project Finance Trends Report is available here.

The post World Bank Group’s wind investments top $80.7 billion appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.

According to market intelligence company, IntelStor, the U.S. (while not in the lead) offer the most upside potential for the offshore wind market.

According to the company, the Americas have committed to a total of 62 GW of proposed offshore so far, and Europe is leading the globe with 161 GW, either consented or under construction. Asia Pacific is ramping up with about 106 GW of offshore this year.

The breakdown of emerging markets in offshore wind indicates that the United States currently has the most upside potential, with Taiwan in second. Japan and Poland will be the next developmental stage markets to make a significant contribution to the growing capacity additions in the offshore wind segment.

Additionally, Việt Nam and Turkey have identified their offshore wind market potential, but they have yet to begin fully exploiting it. In particular, Việt Nam has been developing a robust market of near-shore and intertidal capacity, but deeper offshore waters also offer opportunities.

Early stage markets, such as India, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Australia, and South Korea are all poised to make a contribution to global capacity additions soon, with policies being established in all those markets and a significant desire for exploitation by local officials, developers, and suppliers.

The post Global offshore wind energy reaches tipping point appeared first on Windpower Engineering & Development.