Demand for wind turbine systems in China is forecast to rise 5.3 percent annually through 2013 to 62.3 billion yuan. Increases will be driven by a variety of factors, primary among them government policies that encourage the use of renewable and nonpolluting electric power sources such as wind. Such policies include favorable pricing of wind power generated from wind farms, tax incentives and subsidies. Although somewhat modest by China standards, growth through 2013 is impressive, considering the high base from which it comes. Demand for wind turbine systems exploded from less than 1 billion yuan in 2003 to more than 48 billion yuan in 2008. This torrid growth was in large part a result of investment decisions made by state-owned enterprises motivated more by political incentives to meet national renewable energy targets than by profit motives. These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in Wind Turbines in China, a new study from the Beijing office of The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.
Installed wind energy capacity in China reached 12.2 gigawatts in 2008, trailing only the US, Germany and Spain. Given China’s tremendous potential for additional growth, the total installed wind capacity is expected to increase significantly, advancing at an annual pace of 30 percent through 2013.
Utility-scale electric power generation applications will continue to account for virtually all demand in 2013, reflecting government incentives to encourage utilities to use renewable energy to generate electricity, as well as manufacturer efforts to develop larger and more efficient turbine systems geared toward utility-scale energy production. The national government has established a renewable energy target of 15 percent of total energy generated in 2020, up from 9 percent in 2008. Despite the dominance of the utility-scale segment, China is one of the largest distributed wind turbine markets in the world. Distributed wind turbine systems are usually installed in remote areas (e.g., islands, high mountains and border regions) to generate power away from the electrical grid. Distributed models are also used for street lighting, traffic monitoring, communication and certain industrial applications.
The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.
