Wind turbine installations will bounce back in 2011 after stalling this year, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Turbines with an electricity-generation capacity of 45 gigawatts are likely to be erected next year, up from about 37.7 gigawatts this year, the London-based research group said today. Next year’s activity will be dominated by China, said Eduardo Tabbush, a New Energy Finance wind industry analyst.
“We expect a rebound in installations for 2011 mainly driven by growth in China,” Tabbush said. “This will account for about 50 percent of annual installations that year.”
A collapse in investment at the end of 2008 and start of 2009 has led to this year’s decline in installations, which lag financings, according to New Energy Finance Chief Executive Officer Michael Liebreich. Last year, about 38.4 gigawatts of turbines were installed.
The analysis company also cut forecasts for onshore installations this year from the 41.3 gigawatts predicted in February and 40.5 gigawatts in June. It now predicts 36.4 gigawatts of power this year on land and 1.3 gigawatts offshore.
“Projects with expected completion this year are not expected until 2011 either due to the increased time taken to close financing and power purchase agreements, such as in the U.S. and U.K., or due to policy uncertainties, such as in Canada and Australia,” Tabbush said.
U.S. installations probably will fall 39 percent this year, weighed down by lower prices for power and natural gas and by uncertainty about the level of regulatory support for renewables, New Energy Finance said.
“Investment levels are slowly recovering in Europe and the U.S., but meanwhile Asia, and in particular China, have charged ahead,” Liebreich said.
A megawatt is enough power for about 800 typical U.S. homes, according to the Energy Information Administration. There are 1,000 megawatts in a gigawatt.
