2014 a record breaking year for wind turbine manufacturers

For wind turbine manufacturers, 2014 was a record breaking year, according to FTI Consulting, indicating that the renewable energy is performing well. However, the sector could see a fall in demand in 2016 because of regulatory uncertainty.

The findings come from the organisations report Global Wind Market Update – Demand & Supply 2014, which is due to be officially released in March.

The report states that global wind capacity reached more than 50 gigawatts in 2014, over 40% growth on 2013. The record breaking growth is mainly driven by China, Germany and Brazil. All ten of the top wind turbine original equipment manufacturers have benefitted from the growth, reporting individual records for installations.

The report also notes that the wind industry is continuing to see a transition away from feed in tariffs and towards more ”market-reflective” support mechanisms in 2014. Despite the progress made last year, it adds that the global wind market is likely to fall next year, partly due to uncertainty in regulations.

Feng Zhao, director at FTI Consulting and head of wind energy within the FTI-CL Energy Practice, said, “2014 was a record breaking year for the wind industry, but it was mainly driven by the boom and bust fear created by the regulatory uncertainty in China and Germany.

“Although the growth in South and East Asia, and Latin America will remain strong, without a stable market structure in Europe and the policy consistency in the US, the global wind market is likely to fall in 2016.”

Photo: Henry Burrows via Flickr

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