China Set to Overtake U.S. as Biggest Wind-Power Growth Market

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- China is poised to become the biggest growth market for wind-power generating capacity this year as the recession and credit crisis crimp expansion in the U.S., the head of the Global Wind Energy Council said.

China, which has more than doubled its wind power production annually for the last four years, may add about 10,000 megawatts of capacity in 2009, while the U.S. may fail to match last year’s growth of 8,500 megawatts, Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Brussels-based group, said today.

More than 27,000 megawatts of wind power generating plants worth about 40 billion euros ($53 billion) were built worldwide last year, taking global installed capacity to more than 120,000 megawatts. Huaneng Power International Inc. and CLP Holdings Ltd. are among companies building wind farms in China as the government’s economic stimulus measures spur demand for power.

“China is powering ahead, with no visible signs of slowing down; if anything it’s accelerating,” Sawyer said by telephone from Melbourne. “They intend to become the largest market in the world, very clearly, and they probably will unless things take off in the U.S. again in the relatively near term.”

General Electric Co.’s energy unit, BP Plc and Suzlon Energy Ltd. are among members of the Global Wind Energy Council, which represents more than 1,500 companies and organizations. One megawatt can power about 1,000 Australian homes.

China’s total installed capacity is still just less than half of the 25 gigawatts in operation in the U.S., Sawyer said. The nation is the world’s second-biggest energy user.

Sinovel, Goldwind

China’s local wind turbine manufacturing industry has “grown dramatically” as power production has expanded, Sawyer said. Local manufacturers, dominated by Sinovel Wind Co., Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. and Dongfang Electric Corp., captured more than half the domestic market for the first time in 2007, rising to between 75 percent and 80 percent last year.

“Although all the big international brands are there and their markets are growing in absolute terms, their market share is diminishing pretty rapidly,” Sawyer said.

The growth in Chinese wind turbine manufacturing means Chinese-made equipment is poised to emerge in the international wind market “in earnest,” Sawyer said. Until now, Chinese suppliers have only won smaller contracts in the U.S., Cuba and Peru, Africa and the Middle East, he said.

European growth in wind power capacity may be flat this year, matching last year’s 8,800 megawatts, before returning to faster growth in 2010, Sawyer said. Expansion should accelerate around 2015 with the development of larger offshore projects, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net