Global Wind Turbine Market (by Location, Axis, Component, Application, & Region): Insights and Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2022-2026)

Wind energy is a form of renewable energy. Renewable energy is growing rapidly as many countries implement programmes to address climate change. When compared to many other energy sources, wind energy has a lower environmental effect. Wind turbines, with a few exceptions, do not generate pollutants that are harmful to the environment. Wind turbines may also reduce the quantity of fossil fuels utilized to create energy, lowering total air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.

Wind turbines are mechanical devices used in wind power facilities. Wind turbines convert wind energy into electricity by using the aerodynamic force of rotor blades, which act similarly to an aeroplane wing or a helicopter rotor blade. The global wind turbine market is expected to be worth US$79.21 billion in 2023, witnessing growth at a CAGR of 5.97%, during the forecasted period.

Segment Covered

By Location: In terms of location, the report identifies two segments of the global wind turbine market: Onshore and Offshore. Among the location, it is anticipated that the offshore location would experience a significant growth, at a highest CAGR. Advantages of the offshore wind turbine include increased power output as a result of steady wind flow and speedy installation of the turbines. As large corporations in the nations turn to adopting renewable and clean energy sources, the installation of offshore wind turbines is anticipated to increase during the forecast period. The global offshore wind turbine market can be divided in two segments, on the basis of installation: Fixed and Floating. Fixed wind turbine dominated the global offshore wind turbine market.

By Axis: On the basis of axis, the report offers two segments of the global market: Horizontal Axis and Vertical Axis. It is anticipated that the vertical wind turbines would experience the highest CAGR during the forecasted period due to their capacity to produce power efficiently in unstable and harsh situations. Some of the essential factors that would propel the demand for the vertical wind turbines across residential applications are low installation and maintenance costs, limited ground requirements, and ease of operation.

By Component: According to the component, the report delivers the bifurcation of wind turbine market into five segments: Rotator Blade, Generator, Gearbox, Nacelle and Others. The rotator blade segment held the maximum share in the market. Wind turbine rotator blades are airfoil-shaped blades that utilize wind energy to move the rotator of the wind turbine. The blades may exert lift in the opposite direction of the wind due to the airfoil-shaped design. The wind turbine is propelled by this force vector, which acts on the rotor. Growing competition among industry participants to enhance production capacity has led to a significant decrease in the price of rotator blades, which has increased its installation.

By Application: The report splits the global wind turbine market into two segments, based on the applications: Utility and Non Utility. The utility segment occupied the largest share in the market. Utility-scale wind turbines are often erected in sizable wind farms with several turbines that are linked to the country's transmission network. Large-scale utility-scale wind generating projects necessitate several land, building, and other permissions in addition to careful relationship management with various process players. Increasing rotator blade size, increasing area of wind farms, increasing efficiency of wind turbines along declining costs are the factors foreseen to drive the growth of utility wind turbine market in coming years.

Geographic Coverage

According to this report, the global wind turbine market is divided into five regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. The countries covered in North America region are the US, Mexico, and Canada, while Europe includes Germany, the UK, Spain, France, and Rest of Europe. Moreover, Japan, China, India, Australia, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific are included in the Asia Pacific region. Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global wind turbine market. The growth in wind capacity has mostly been driven by China's installed capacity. With roughly 38 GW of installed wind power in 2020, India will hold the fourth-largest position globally. By 2022, the government hopes to have 60 GW of onshore wind and 5 GW of offshore wind installed. To reach this goal, it is anticipated that there would be a significant increase in the number of projects during the next two years.

Top Impacting Factors

Growth Drivers

• Declining Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)
• Increasing Investments
• Federal and State Policy Support
• Wind Turbine Financing

Challenges

• High Entry Barriers
• High Maintenance

Trends

• Increasing Average Turbine Size
• Power To X and Green Hydrogen
• Increasing distance to Shore and Greater Water Depths
• Technological Advancements

Driver: Declining Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)

Levelized cost of energy (LCOE), often called levelized cost of electricity, is the net present value of the unit cost of electricity over the lifetime of the asset. Technology advancements have led to larger wind farms, and farther distances from the shore, enabling energy production independent of government assistance. As a result, LCOE for offshore wind projects has decreased significantly over the past years, primarily due to lower cost and higher capacity factor. Other significant factors in lowering LCOE include supply chain management that is less expensive and financing, but costs for electrical connectivity, foundations, installation, and operation & maintenance have also decreased. Declining LCOE has supported the market growth throughout the past years.

Challenge: High Maintenance

The challenges associated with the design, manufacture, and usage of wind assets include corrosion, fatigue, erosion, lightning strikes, and biofouling, to name just a few. Challenges with the foundations and transition piece have negatively affected the wind turbine market. Foundation designs have to change as wind farms attempt to function with larger turbines and migrate to deeper water. The hostile sea environment makes the monopile foundations vulnerable to internal and exterior corrosion. A limited interchange of confined seawater might accelerate internal corrosion, whereas irregular electrolytic contact can significantly worsen corrosion at the splash and tidal zones. High visibility coatings are also necessary at the transition piece. However, typical paint methods can experience corrosion and UV degradation, necessitating expensive maintenance. The high maintenance and corrosion of wind turbine has negatively affected the growth of the market.

Trend: Increasing Average Turbine Size

Although more expensive than their smaller predecessors, larger offshore wind turbines offer exponential production growth, as electricity generation increases with the square of the rotor radius and wind speeds increase with the height of the turbine. In addition, a number of countries are reducing subsidies to offshore wind, including countries like the Netherlands. Since winds tend to increase as altitudes rise, turbine towers are getting taller to absorb more energy. Wind shear is the term for the shift in wind speed with altitude. Higher up in the atmosphere, where there are fewer surface-level obstructions like mountains, trees, and other vegetation to cause friction, the wind may move more easily. The Midwest and Northeast, two locations with higher-than-average wind shear, tend to have a concentration of wind turbine towers that are taller than 100 meters.

The COVID-19 Analysis

Like many sectors, COVID-19 has also impacted the energy sector and threatened to derail efforts implemented to speed up the transition to clean energy. Supply and demand shocks have occurred across the energy sector as a result of widespread economic activity suspension. The wind turbine market, was also imparted by the pandemic in the initial stage due to investment curbs and supply chain disruptions caused through unavailability of workforce. But in the 2nd half, the impact of the pandemic was alleviated by favorable government policies and robust demand pulled by increased awareness of the people towards clean energy sources. Energy is a crucial component of economic development and prosperity. The demand for energy always increases as the society advances. Despite the fact that pandemic caused serious issues in the energy sector, the move towards the clean sources of energy has sparked unprecedented interest in the wind power, thus driving the growth of wind turbine market.

Analysis of Key Players

The global wind turbine market is moderately concentrated. Market players have implemented sustainable growth techniques in the market. To strengthen their position in the market, some of the leading competitors are pursuing various growth methods such as mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and agreements. The key players in the global Wind turbine market are Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, General Electric Company (GE) (GE Renewable Energy), Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Suzlon Energy Ltd., Nordex SE, XinJiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Guodian Technology & Environment Group Corporation Ltd. (Guodian United Power Technology Ltd.), Shanghai Electric Group Company Ltd., Enercon GmbH, Envision Energy, Zhejiang Windey Co., Ltd., and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd.