The Wind Energy Industry & North American Market Review

April/May 2010

By most accounts, 2009 should have been a terrible year for wind power development in North America. The worst recession in decades eviscerated the tax credit appetite of the financial institutions that invest in wind projects, and the loans needed for project finance all but disap­peared. Yet on the strength of the grant-in-lieu of tax credit enacted with the ARRA stimulus bill, the U.S. wind energy capacity grew by 40%, installing a record-breaking 10 GW to end 2009 at 38 GW, 22% of the global total of 158 GW. Canada's wind capacity also grew by 40% and Mexico's fledgling wind power market grew by more than 130%. North America still trailed Asia which expanded capacity 64% in 2009 to total 40 GW. Asia was paced by China that more than doubled capacity to 26 GW.

Inside this Edition

  • CCBJ forecasts a dip in U.S. capacity added in 2010 due to lack of load growth and cheap gas prices putting downward pressure on power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, but 2011 activity will return to the 10 GW level of 2009. Higher activity is expected globally due to continuing growth in Asia. The Global Wind Energy Council expects Asia to surpass Europe as the world's leading wind energy region by 2014. By then offshore will account for 18-20% of Europe's capacity lending momentum to further offshore developments worldwide (5% of new 2009 capacity in Europe was offshore).
  • In the United States, growth will be continue to be driven by state renewable energy standards, but the industry is looking to Congress extend the grant-in-lieu of deadline of Dec. 31 2010 and the other tax incentives which expire Dec. 31 2012. To obtain these legislative victories, as well as a national renewable energy standard, the industry may have to overcome the image that it is "exporting jobs" due to the high proportion of foreign-manufactured turbines in projects supported by U.S. tax credits.
  • In a series of profiles, CCBJ explores the business models and competitive positioning of wind farm developers, turbine manufacturers and many types of service providers. Among the firms profiled in this edition: AWS Truepower, CH2M Hill, Clean Line Energy, E.ON Climate & Renewables, Ecology & Environment, GL Garrad Hassan, Horizon Wind Energy, ICF International, Mainstream Renewable Power, Meteodyn, MidAmerican Energy Company, Mortenson Construction, PacifiCorp, RMT, Siemens and Tetra Tech.
  • Rounding out its coverage of North America, CCBJ features the Mexican wind power market which is growing rapidly on the heels of electricity market liberalization and pro-renewable energy policies, as well as the availability of carbon finance for domestic projects and demand from California utilities for cross-border wind energy. CCBJ also examines the robust feed-in tariff recently enacted in Ontario, paying special attention to the implications of the province's "buy Ontario" requirements.

 

Look Inside the Wind Energy Industry & North American Market Review edition.

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