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
217, 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.