A recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan, The Global Wind Power Market, Forecast to 2025, finds that the global wind market has witnessed tremendous growth, with an addition of more than half of the world's wind power capacity over the past five years. The global wind market, onshore and offshore, is driven by various governments' initiatives to improve energy security and, in particular, reduce coal consumption due to growing concerns about climate change and air pollution. By the end of 2016, more than 80 countries had installed wind farms and about 26 countries, representing every region, had more than 1 gigawatt (GW) in operation.
The research reveals:
- The global wind power services market is expected to be worth $24.97 billion by 2025, up from $9 billion in 2016, driven by an aging installed base in Europe and North America and substantial new capacity additions in Asia.
- Of the total global revenues, 45.9 percent is likely to be contributed by North America and Europe, while China will account for 39.3 percent of total revenue in 2025.
- As wind power becomes increasingly competitive with conventional fuels, $100 billion a year of global investments are forecast until 2025.
- Besides the top four countries (China, the US, Germany and India), new investments in Brazil, France, Spain and the UK drives expansion.
- Corporate sourcing of renewables is an emerging market driver for the global wind market.
- The Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics and predictive modeling, and advanced lightweight composite materials are some of the disruptive innovations emerging to address specific challenges in the industry, as well as potentially creating additional revenue opportunities for participants in the competitive market.
- Strong evolution continues in the US with the production tax credit (PTC) extension and phase out.
- Cratering of offshore prices is driving the offshore wind market across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
"Integration with electricity grid, withdrawal of government subsidies, and political instability and curtailment of wind projects remain critical challenges for companies in the global wind market," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Swagath Navin Manohar. "However, key opportunities exist in IoT-enabled services in the global wind industry."
Through IoT connectivity, wind farm developers can efficiently monitor the performance of wind turbines and their associated devices located in remote locations without manual intervention. Data analytics and cloud also present some opportunities as predictive data analytics have become a core offering in wind energy markets, with a primary focus on reducing failures and improving operational efficiency in wind turbines. Advanced materials will also present areas of opportunity to explore with increasing innovations in materials science and reducing wind costs, turbine sizes will continue to increase and include light, flexible blades.
"In the coming years, we will see IoT-enabled talking turbines, drones, and robots designed to replace manual inspection of wind turbines and blades, as well as lightweight, high-strength composite materials to drive wind turbine size increase, all of which will open up new opportunities for companies in the market and those looking to break into the market," said Manohar.
