Will 2015 Be Global Wind Power’s High Water Mark?

Will 2015 be the high water mark for annual global wind installations? Guidehouse Insights compiled its data for 2016 in its annual World Wind Energy Market Update report, and an enormous amount of wind turbine capacity was installed—over 54.3 GW. But this was a 14% annual decrease from the over 63.1 GW installed the year before. The downturn is largely the result of China dropping from 30.2 GW installed in 2015 to 23.3 MW in 2016 due to changing incentive rates in that market. Unless there are further incentive changes that foster another huge annual rush in China, the 63.1 GW installed in 2015 is likely to be the high water mark within Guidehouse Insights’ forecast out to 2026.

The reality is that the global wind energy industry is a huge market that is no longer subject to the high annual growth rates it experienced in its infancy. Rather, it is a mature market seeing steady installations across most country markets and regions. In 2016, stable installation rates occurred in most countries outside of China—from the long established European countries to new markets in Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa, and elsewhere.

Maturation Evident

Europe installed nearly 14 GW of wind power capacity in 2016, almost the same amount as the year before. This represents 25.7% of global capacity installed in 2016. Europe also had the distinction (for the first time) of having more wind energy installed than coal plant capacity. North, South, and Central America combined installed 12.4 GW in 2016, representing 22.9% of the global market in 2016. This is down from over 14.5 GW of capacity the year before. The downturn was partly due to less capacity added during 2016 in Canada and Brazil.

The United States led all countries besides China in 2016, and the US market is in the middle of wind plant construction boom. A long-term extension of incentives ramping down through 2020 provides much sought after policy stability. It also supports continued capacity expansion that is expected to peak, with over 10 GW of annual wind projected to be brought online in 2020. While there were some concerns at the start of the new presidential administration, having a Republican back in office is not expected to alter this wind build cycle since it is based on a tax credit phaseout deal coded into law prior to 2017.

Wind power capacity continues to surge in Mexico as its policies and energy demand show the foundation for steady growth while energy deregulation secures a windy future. Chile and Uruguay saw strong installation rates to bolster capacity in Latin America.

The combined markets of South and East Asia represented 49.7% of global wind power capacity in 2016, down from 52.6% in 2015. China’s market strength again propelled global growth, with 23.3 GW, followed by India with 3.2 GW. India is experiencing steady and substantial year-over-year growth in installations and should prove to be a stable large market going forward, driven by new policy changes and insatiable energy demand from an enormous population.

Momentum Offshore

Offshore wind continued its successful build cycle of 2.2 GW in 2016, bringing the total cumulative capacity of offshore wind to 13.5 GW. The majority of capacity came from Europe, as expected, led by the Netherlands and Germany. China ramped up its offshore wind capacity in 2016 as well, with multiple turbine vendors installing capacity and pushing the country’s cumulative offshore wind online to over 1 GW.

Looking forward, wind installations in 2017 are projected by Guidehouse Insights to increase slightly by 1.7% to around 55.3 GW. Annual installations are expected to average around 51.9 GW between 2017 and 2021. This is a downward revision from 54.2 GW from the 2016 World Wind Energy Market Update report due to lower installation levels expected in China and Germany.