“History shows that technology revolutions occur about every 50 years. We believe that cleantech is at the beginning of a high growth period much like computing was in the 1970s”
Merril Lynch
Wind Power
Wind energy is currently the fastest-growing of all the renewables, increasing at a rate of around 25% per annum globally. This amazing growth rate is being driven by a number of factors including policy and climate change targets, huge improvements in turbine technology, and peak oil.
Wind has one massive advantage over other renewables, in that it can be implemented relatively quickly: modern turbines can be installed in just a few months and even off-shore wind farms, with their complex marine infrastructure, can be built in under two years from start to finish.
Perhaps most importantly, the cost of the fuel over the lifetime of a wind turbine is a known factor – it’s zero. As the cost of wind power continues to fall, its uptake globally is scheduled to keep on rising. There have been setbacks in the development of some wind farms due to a number of factors (including planning delays, the rising price of steel, and the cost of finance due to the credit crunch) but the overall trend is positive.
The industry continues to be supported by policy initiatives such as the European Renewable Energy Directive, agreed in Poznan in December 2008. The targets mean that more than 30% of EU electricity must come from renewables in 2020 – with wind energy as the biggest contributor.
The Global Wind Energy Council is predicting that the global wind market will grow by over 155% of its current size to achieve 240GW of installed capacity by 2012. This would represent a near doubling of current annual installations every year. See our Sector snapshot for more details.
For the green investor, wind plays an important part in any renewables portfolio. See our Companies snapshot for an overview of the main opportunities.Critics often claim that the intermittency of wind renders it unreliable as a secure power source. In fact, the variability of wind and other renewables is creating significant investment opportunities in electric grid management and the development of Smart Grids.
Print Page
By Nick Hanna
Format: Paperback
Pages: 196
Edition: 1st
RRP: £14.99
Due for publication: 24th May 2010
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