North America Wind Energy

The North American wind energy industry is lagging in key areas compared to Europe and Asia, but many key industry players are optimistic about the North American market as turbine costs continue to drop dramatically. In 2010, a total of 5,784 MW of wind capacity was installed in North America. The region currently accounts for more than 22% of the world’s total installed wind capacity and is home to the second largest wind market - the United States.

As a region, North America fell to third place in cumulative installations in 2009 behind Asia Pacific and Europe. Pike Research expects installations in the region to reach 125 GW by 2017, with offshore installations accounting for fewer than 3% of that total. Pike Research anticipates that 2011 will be another difficult year for the industry in North America; however, we do see tentative signs of recovery.

Pike Research’s analysis indicates that wind energy installation costs in the United States will total more than $125 billion between 2011 and 2017, capturing 15% of the global market during that period. Canada will reach 15 GW of total wind capacity by 2017, with more than 400 MW of that amount derived from offshore installations. In Canada, installation costs will total $19.3 billion between 2011 and 2017.

In the midst of this market transition, turbine manufacturer market shares are fluid, as well. In 2010, Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Sinovel overtook GE Wind Energy to become the second largest wind turbine supplier worldwide, and came in at less than 1% (350 MW) behind industry leader Vestas.