Growing trends of wind energy market

Wind investments are rising, especially in Sweden, Greece, Ireland and some Eastern countries. Offshore opportunities are particularly significant, while re-powering is starting to develop.

Trends in growth of the wind energy sector in Europe are optimistic. After the slowdown in 2009, spilling over in the first quarter of this year and caused by the global crisis that lowered investor confidence, an analysis from Frost & Sullivan shows that interest in wind energy is rising, with new investing opportunites both in the onshore and offshore wind energy markets.

Among European countries that present greatest potential growth, the analysis from Frost & Sullivan chose Sweden, Greece and Ireland, but also reported a dynamic trend in a number of nations in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

Offshore wind presents the most significant opportunities, since these installations are likely to offer higher productivity than onshore projects, due to the higher speed of offshore wind. Inded, while average wind speed onland is 7 metres/second, offshore speed ranges between 9 and 10 m/sec. Moreover, offshore offers greater opportunities for the creation of economies of scale, so that developers are encouraged to build large-scale projects that can make a greater contribution to the European renewable energy target. The most significant support to the offshore industry is expected to come from the United Kingdom and Germany.

At the same time, the trend of re-powering for the refurbishment of wind farms, in order to achieve better performance, is being strengthened. In this case, the greatest contribution comes from Denmark, the Netherlands and, once more, Germany.

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Source: enelgreenpower, July 13, 2010;