Growth in materials demand for wind turbine blades

16-Feb-12

Global demand for materials in the production of wind turbine blades grew by over 20% pa in the last five years, as per a report from industry consultants, AMI Consulting, published in January 2012. The market for wind turbine blades has been one of the fastest growing of any composite application with strong growth in Europe, North America and more recently Asia. While global materials usage has risen strongly, there are uncertainties ahead and changing market dynamics. In many parts of the world governmental support for wind energy is weakening due to budgetary constraints with consequences both for generation capacity and the distribution network, yet the long term prospects remain encouraging. In this new report by AMI Consulting the value of the global composite blade market is estimated at €4 bln in 2011 of which approximately €1.5 bln was raw materials. The report quantifies the market, its structure, the status of the technology and the changes which are underway. Increasing effort is being invested in designing blades for maximum power generation and this requires careful attention to material composition, material processing and of course overall design. The link between generating capacity, blade size and materials usage is discussed in detail in the report. To maximise return on investment, the average blade size is getting longer and heavier requiring greater quantities of raw materials. As blade length and weight increase beyond current norms increased sophistication in blade design, materials and manufacture are required. By providing independent quantitative analysis, subscribers will gain a much stronger understanding of the scale of the market and the market share of the key participant.