Industry Intelligence #7: Unraveling the Wind Turbine Landscape in Europe
Rayane Echikr
CI Analyst @EIT Manufacturing | Competitive Intelligence, Green Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, Technology Watch
Greetings everyone,
Welcome to the seventh edition of Industry Intelligence, your go-to newsletter for staying up-to-date with the latest trends in energy and technology. The main goal is to shed light on ways to achieve industrial sustainability and decarbonisation within European #Manufacturing.
In this edition, we'll be diving into the fascinating realm of wind energy. By exploring miscellaneous use cases, projects, and policies at a European level, I aim to provide valuable insights and actionable knowledge.
If this topic resonates with you, I invite you to join me in exploring the depths of this subject together! Let's embark on this journey towards a greener and more sustainable future.
Technology use-cases:
Swancor′s Innovative Solution for Recycling Turbine Blades ??
?? The wind power industry faces a major challenge: recycling wind turbine blades, which are crucial for renewable energy but difficult to recycle. Swancor Holding Co., a Taiwanese chemical manufacturer is developing an innovative resin, EzCiclo, allowing the #carbonfibres (CFs) to be reused. https://shorturl.at/gGXbU
Vestas to Establish Second Offshore Wind Blade Facility in Poland??
?? Vestas, a Danish #wind turbine manufacturer, has announced plans to establish a new blade factory in Szczecin, Poland. Scheduled to start operations in 2026, the facility will produce blades for Vestas’ flagship offshore wind turbine, the V236-15.0 MW, and is expected to create over 1,000 direct jobs. https://shorturl.at/JnuVk
SGL Carbon Achieves 50% Reduction in Carbon Fibre Production Footprint ??
?? SGL Carbon has announced a new carbon fiber with up to 50% reduced carbon footprint, produced at their Moses Lake, U.S. site and Lavradio, Portugal. The fiber's eco-friendly production is powered by hydropower, saving 75,000 tons of CO2 annually. Starting in 2024, Lavradio will switch to a CO2-neutral biomass system, saving an additional 90,000 tons of CO2 yearly. This move aligns with SGL's goal to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025 and achieve climate neutrality by 2038. From 2019 to 2022, SGL has already cut CO2 emissions by 17%.
Projects
Revolutionising Wind Energy: EU′s Blade2Circ Project advances sutainable & Recyclable Turbine Blades ??
?? The Blade2Circ project, led by the Aitiip Technology Centre in Zaragoza, Spain, is an EU-funded initiative with a budget of nearly EUR 4 million. It aims to develop sustainable and recyclable wind turbine blades using bio-based materials, reversible adhesives, and self-healing coatings. The project includes 11 partners from across Europe and focuses on enhancing blade performance and recyclability, promoting a circular economy, and supporting European energy goals.
Zebra project delivers first full-scale prototype for world′s largest fully recyclable wind turbine blade ??
?? The €18.5 million ZEBRA project, led by IRT Jules Verne, has produced its first 100% recyclable wind turbine blade prototype. Launched in September 2020 and ending in February 2024, the project aims to reduce industrial waste with thermoplastic blades using Arkema’s Elium? resin and Owens Corning’s glass fabric. The 62-meter blade, designed by LM Wind Power, addresses the recyclability challenge of traditional blade materials. LM Wind Power will test the production and recycling methods in Denmark.
Acciona to Build Wind Blade Recycling Plant in Spain by 2025 ??
?? Acciona, Acciona Energía, and RenerCycle will construct the Waste2Fiber recycling plant in Lumbier, Spain, operational by 2025. Using a proprietary thermal method, the plant will process 6,000 tonnes of end-of-life wind turbine blades annually, significantly reducing the carbon footprint. Supported by €5.3 million from the Spanish and Navarra governments, construction begins in early 2024. The recycled materials will be used in automotive, construction, and chemical industries.
Wind turbine challenges
Examining the Viability of Wind Farms in Today's Market ??
?? The wind industry's leading original equipment manufacturer, Vestas, experienced an 18% decline in orders in 2022 compared to 2021, despite holding approximately 20% of the global onshore #wind capacity. Similarly, Nordex witnessed a 20% decrease in orders in 2022 compared to 2021, while Siemens Gamesa reported a significant 44% decline in onshore orders.
?? Turbine manufacturers have been grappling with significant losses, prompting a closer examination of the underlying factors. While some attributed these losses to COVID-19-related #supplychain costs and the Ukraine conflict, the reality runs deeper.
?? According to José Luis Blanco, the CEO of Nordex, the wind industry's economics have been severely impacted by competitive tenders exerting price pressures and failed government policies that have hindered visibility into wind capacity pipelines—predating the Ukraine war. Blanco's concerns extend beyond rare earths, encompassing "normal" components like metallic turbine shafts, of which approximately 95% originate from China. The dependency on a single source for critical components further compounds the challenges faced by the industry.
?? Nevertheless, these economic realities underscore the need for a comprehensive assessment of the wind industry's dynamics. By addressing the structural challenges and fostering sustainable #manufacturing practices, we can create a more resilient and prosperous future for the industry.
Wind capacity in the world and in the EU ?
Wind capacity worldwide ??
Wind Industry Resilience 2023: Tripling Installations Needed for Net Zero
?? The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) released the "Global Wind Report 2024," highlighting the installation of 117 gigawatts (GW) of new wind capacity in 2023, the best year to date. Despite political and economic challenges, the wind industry is poised for accelerated growth, driven by increased political ambition and the COP28 target to triple renewable energy by 2030.
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Key Points from the Report:
Call to Action:
?? GWEC urges policymakers, investors, and communities to collaborate on investment, supply chains, infrastructure, and public support to enable rapid wind energy growth. Addressing planning bottlenecks, grid queues, and market frameworks is crucial for scaling up installations.
CEO Ben Backwell’s Remarks:
?? Backwell emphasises the need for more countries to remove barriers and improve market frameworks to achieve the required growth. Despite geopolitical instability, policymakers must focus on resolving growth challenges to expand project pipelines and avoid restrictive measures and hostile competition.
Top global wind turbine manufacturers in 2023
Wind Energy Capacity in 2022
???? In 2022 wind electricity generation increased by a record 265 TWh (up 14%), reaching more than 2?100 TWh. This was the second highest growth among all renewable power technologies, behind solar PV.
?? However, to get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, which envisages approximately 7?400 TWh of wind electricity generation in 2030, the average annual generation growth rate needs to increase to about 17%.
???? Achieving this will require increasing annual capacity additions from about 75 GW in 2022 to 350?GW in 2030. Far greater policy and private-sector efforts are needed to achieve this level of capacity growth, with the most important areas for improvement being facilitating permitting for onshore wind and cost reductions for offshore wind.?
?? In 2022, global wind power installed capacity was 78GW including 9GW from offshore wind turbines bringing the total installed wind capacity to 906 GW, according to a Global Wind Energy Council report. The installed capacity dropped by 17% from 94GW in 2021 to 78GW in 2022, the report said.
?The major contributor to this capacity was APAC with a market share of 55% with China accounting for 88% of new additions in 2022. Europe had second place in market share, accounting for 25% which represents a growth of 6% compared to 2021 thanks to record #onshore wind installations in 2022.
Top global wind turbine manufacturers in 2022
European wind capacity ??
Wind Energy's Role in EU Climate Targets and Energy Security
???? Wind energy is vital to the EU's climate goals and energy security, central to the European Green Deal and REPowerEU plan. In 2022, the EU's wind power capacity reached 204 GW, with 92% onshore. To meet the 2030 target of 42.5% renewable energy consumption, capacity must exceed 500 GW.
?? Challenges for the wind sector include demand uncertainty, slow permits, raw material supply risks, high costs, international competition, and a skilled workforce shortage. The EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive and TEN-E framework aim to streamline permits and support cross-border projects.
???? New initiatives like the wind power package and electricity market reform further bolster the wind industry. Addressing public acceptance, environmental impact, and coexistence with other activities is essential. Investment in new technologies like floating wind and hybrid projects is also crucial for future success.
???? The majority of wind installations deployed in the EU are provided by the domestic wind manufacturing sector, with the main European manufacturers accounting for 85 % of the EU wind energy market (94% in the offshore sector).
???? The wind manufacturing sector is also an important job provider, with the whole wind sector offering between 240 000 and 300 000 direct and indirect jobs in the EU, out of which 45 000 are located at turbine and component manufacturers, and 77 000 relate to offshore wind.
?? The offshore sector is expected to generate between 20 000 and 54 000 new jobs in the next five years across Europe, while the Commission estimates that 68 000 new jobs in the wind sector will be needed by 2030 (including construction, services and transport).
Many Regulations in the Wind Industry:
????It is expected that 4,700 wind turbines/14,000 blades – the equivalent of 40-60,000 tons – could be decommissioned in Europe by 2023, WindEurope reported. In June 2021, WindEurope called for a Europe-wide landfill ban on decommissioned wind turbine blades by 2025, to ensure European wind energy is committed to reuse, #recycle, or recover 100% of turbine blades by 2025.
??? France has enforced a regulation mandating that a minimum of 90% of the total mass of wind turbines must be either reused or recycled by July 2022. Furthermore, under the June 2020 order, by January 1, 2023, a minimum of 45% of the total rotor mass should be repurposed or recycled, with this requirement set to increase to 55% by 2025.
????Similar regulations are implemented in several EU countries, i.e. Austria, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. Nevertheless, a huge acceleration is needed to spread this ban on the full EU zone to be efficient and enable the transition towards a greener future. The success of the #innovation stands in the collaborative effort between industry, academia, and research centres, which I think is one of the ways to raise higher competitiveness and sustainability in the EU industry.
Cost reductions over the last decade:
??? Between 2010 and 2022, the levelised cost of electricity fell by about 90% for solar PV, 70% for onshore wind and 60% for offshore wind.
?? Although there has been a rise in costs in recent years, which has created difficulties in particular for wind power in some advanced economies, these cost reductions have largely followed anticipated learning rates linked to the scaling up of deployment and technology innovation.
? ?In general, policy support and cost reductions have created a virtuous cycle: increased policy support raised the level of deployment, which led to cost reductions, and those cost reductions have led to additional deployment.