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But now it seems that the race to harness the wind as a renewable energy source has hit an air-pocket: interest in new high-tech windmills around the world has been so red-hot, that the makers of wind-turbines simply can't keep up with surging demand.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “improved technology has made it possible to build bigger, more efficient windmills. That, combined with surging political support for renewable energy, has driven up demand. Now, makers can't keep up -- mostly because they can't get the parts they need fast enough.”
Firms Set for a Wind-fall in Green Energy
Utilities in Europe are far ahead of their U.S. counterparts in embracing alternative energy technology, particularly when it comes to the promise of wind power. So now that there’s a wind-turbine supply bottleneck, these European firms enjoy a competitive advantage in the green energy sector.
In fact, a number of wind-power projects in the U.S. have been stalled due to shortages of available wind-turbine equipment. Meanwhile, utilities in Europe are cashing in, since they locked in long-term supply contracts with wind turbine manufacturers, anticipating the current surge in demand. In some cases, the biggest European buyers of wind energy technology made strategic investments in the suppliers of turbine equipment, so now they’re sitting pretty.
For instance, the big Spanish utility Iberdrola SA, a global leader in renewable energy, paid about $4 billion last year to buy a 24% stake in Spanish turbine maker Gamesa SA – and lock up most of it’s production through 2009! This investment gives Iberdrola a big edge in the industry since it now controls its own supply.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
