The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the cost of offshore wind to fall in a “similar, if not steeper” way to solar power over the past ten years, but is concerned that the offshore wind supply chain might go the same way as PV, with European pioneers losing out to Asian competitors, IEA executive director Fatih Birol told WindTV at the WindEnergy Hamburg event this morning.
“The way we saw in the last ten years the cost reduction in solar, I think we will see similar, if not steeper cost reductions in offshore wind across the world, and hopefully starting with Europe,” Birol told WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson at the opening of the digital event.
According to the IEA’s Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019 report, released in June, the cost of solar energy fell by 82% from 2010-19. Over the same period, the cost of offshore wind dropped by 29%.
Birol continued: “Now while I am hopeful that Europe will continue to be a leader on offshore wind, I am thinking, ‘are we going to see the same movie that we have seen with solar?’. What do I mean with that? When we think of solar, ten years ago it was Germany, Spain, Italy [that] put a lot of subsidies [into the sector], they were the frontrunners in terms of solar energy. But when we look at today, 80% of the solar PV is manufactured somewhere in Asia. And Europe is now behind, even though it started in Europe… But now the winner, at the end of the day, is somebody else.
“In terms of offshore wind, I hope we learn from this example.”
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, in 2019, European turbine suppliers captured 57% of the global offshore wind market, with Siemens Gamesa taking a 39.8% share, MHI Vestas with 15.7% and now-bankrupt Senvion on 1.5%. American company GE, which manufactures its offshore turbines in France, took 4.3% of the total, but is expected to grow its market share in the coming years thanks to its 12-13MW Haliade turbine.
Chinese manufacturers took almost 39% in total, led by Shanghai Electric (10%), Envision (9.5%) and Goldwind (9.37%).
With the offshore wind sector set to expand in the US, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, the European manufacturers may face increased competition from Chinese OEMs. However, Siemens Gamesa, MHI Vestas and GE are now offering much larger, more cost-effective models than their Asian competitors, who have won all of their orders from China.The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the cost of offshore wind to fall in a “similar, if not steeper” way to solar power over the past ten years, but is concerned that the offshore wind supply chain might go the same way as PV, with European pioneers losing out to Asian competitors, IEA executive director Fatih Birol told the WindEnergy Hamburg conference this morning.
“The way we saw in the last ten years the cost reduction in solar, I think we will see similar, if not steeper cost reductions in offshore wind across the world, and hopefully starting with Europe,” Birol told WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson at the opening of the digital event.
According to the IEA’s Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019 report, released in June, the cost of solar energy fell by 82% from 2010-19. Over the same period, the cost of offshore wind dropped by 29%.
Birol continued: “Now while I am hopeful that Europe will continue to be a leader on offshore wind, I am thinking, ‘are we going to see the same movie that we have seen with solar?’. What do I mean with that? When we think of solar, ten years ago it was Germany, Spain, Italy [that] put a lot of subsidies [into the sector], they were the frontrunners in terms of solar energy. But when we look at today, 80% of the solar PV is manufactured somewhere in Asia. And Europe is now behind, even though it started in Europe… But now the winner, at the end of the day, is somebody else.
“In terms of offshore wind, I hope we learn from this example.”
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, in 2019, European turbine suppliers captured 57% of the global offshore wind market, with Siemens Gamesa taking a 39.8% share, MHI Vestas with 15.7% and now-bankrupt Senvion on 1.5%. American company GE, which manufactures its offshore turbines in France, took 4.3% of the total, but is expected to grow its market share in the coming years thanks to its 12-13MW Haliade turbine.
Chinese manufacturers took almost 39% in total, led by Shanghai Electric (10%), Envision (9.5%) and Goldwind (9.37%).
With the offshore wind sector set to expand in the US, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, the European manufacturers may face increased competition from Chinese OEMs. However, Siemens Gamesa, MHI Vestas and GE are now offering much larger, more cost-effective models than their Asian competitors, who have won all of their orders from China.
