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Publisher's Note April May 2016

Records and Developments in the USA and Europe

In 2015 the US wind market saw good performance, with 8.6GW of added capacity, the strongest growth since 2012. Also Congress extended renewable energy usage tax credits by another five years. It looks like the US market is entering a new era and will flourish again, which is good news for all of us. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) will organise its annual show in New Orleans from 23 till 26 May. The set-up of the show differs a little from the past few years, with the exhibit hall and the educational sessions situated in one contiguous space. This set-up will help increase the interaction between the exhibitors and attendees of the show and hopefully the show will become a lively event again as it used to be before the global financial crisis. Of course Windtzech International will be present in New Orleans, so feel free to come along to pick up your personal copy of the magazine at the media point and/or to say hello.

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Publisher's Note March 2016

Growth in Europe and Around the World

Normally around this time of the year many of us are preparing for the annual wind energy conference organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). But EWEA has recently signed an agreement with Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH to host its annual conference in parallel with the WindEnergy Hamburg exhibition at least till 2020 and thus has given up its spot in the first part of the year.

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Publisher's Note January February 2016

Long-term consistent policies appear on the horizon

In my Publisher’s Note from the beginning of this year (and in many others over the years too) I urged for a long-term and consistent policy to really develop a global stable base market. And, finally, it looks like we might be heading that way based on events that happened in December 2015!

 

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Publisher's Note November/December 2015

Can global wind installations double in 5 years?

According to Anders Runevad, CEO of Vestas, cumulative wind energy installations worldwide may double within 5 years as falling costs help producers compete with conventional power. It is true that wind has become more competitive with conventional energy sources. recent study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) shows that the global average levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind decreased from US$ 85 per MWh to US$ 83 in 2015. On average the LCOE for conventional energy sources such as coal-fired generation and combined-cycle gas turbine generation increased in the same period to US$ 92.

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Publisher's Note October 2015

Worldwide wind market booming like never before

The worldwide wind capacity reached 392,927MW by the end of June 2015, out of which 21,678MW were added in the first six months of 2015. This increase is substantially higher than in the first half of 2014 and 2013, when 17.6GW and 13.9GW respectively were added. All wind turbines installed worldwide by mid-2015 can generate 4 per cent of the world’s electricity demand. The global wind capacity grew by 5.8 per cent within six months (after 5.6 per cent in the same period in 2014 and 4.9 per cent in 2013) and by 16.8 per cent on an annual basis (mid-2015 compared with mid-2014).

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Publisher's Note September 2015

Reaching for the higher winds

The hub heights of onshore wind turbines are shooting up to elevations of 100 metres and more in order to reach more consistent and faster winds and so produce more energy than is available at lower heights. In order to harness this higher grade energy, wind turbine towers must evolve to reach new heights. Many towers, and especially those of 100 metres and more, are nowadays made from concrete. However, this market is being constrained when it comes to increasing tower height because of the limited availability of the powerful cranes needed to erect such tall towers.

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Publisher's Note July/August 2015

Lack of policy support is the main barrier for small wind take-off

Most attention in the wind sector goes to large wind turbines and utility scale projects, but in the small and medium sized wind energy market a lot is happening as well and this market is growing. Fuelled by the spread of innovative financing programmes centred around the leasing model, growth in the installation of small and medium wind turbine (SMWT) power systems is accelerating. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, worldwide revenue from SMWTs will grow from US$ 1 billion in 2015 to nearly US$ 2.4 billion in 2023.

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