Wind turbine prices remain about 15 percent below their peak in 2008 and show little sign of recovering over the next three years, a survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found.
Wind farm builders are paying turbine makers an average of 1.04 million euros ($1.37 million) a megawatt of capacity for delivery by the middle of next year, the London-based analysis company said today in an e-mailed statement. That’s down from a peak of 1.22 million euros for contracts in 2008 for 2009 delivery.
“Expectations for turbine prices have never been so low,” said William Young, manager of Energy Finance’s Wind Insight Service. “The current market oversupply will continue for quite a while longer. That may not be great for wind turbine manufacturers, but the good news for the sector is that it will improve the competitiveness of wind with gas, coal and nuclear.”
Turbine markers such as Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA have struggled with sales as financing for developers dried up during the financial crisis. Turbine prices are also little changed from deliveries in the first half of this year and the main turbine buyers don’t expect prices to begin increasing until 2013, New Energy said, without naming the companies.
New Energy Finance’s Wind Turbine Price Index, published twice a year, is based on a survey of confidential data provided by 22 turbine buyers. Today’s survey covers 110 contracts, or about a quarter of the market, the company said.
