As pointed out by 21 experts from European and U.S. Innovation will be key to address these issues, but technology advancements to meet future demand and functionality won’t be easy without a new or integrated approach to all aspects of the wind turbine, some experts say. Meanwhile, among other crucial challenges it highlights are a “heightened competition for terrain, rare earths, and technology,” all of which could raise “the risk of price volatility and trade tensions.” Market consolidation has also affected the gearbox segment, “where less than half of suppliers operational eight years ago remain active,” as well as the blades segment, where the number of independent and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers has dwindled “due to inability to compete on cost, research and development investment, and market coverage.” Today, GWEC notes, 10 blade producers account for 80% of the total global blade supply. Today, the top six turbine suppliers “now control nearly three-quarters of the global market,” it says. The number of wind turbine suppliers, GWEC’s Market Intelligence arm notes, has declined from 63 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in 2013 to 33 OEMs in 2019. The supply chain, too, will need a shakeup. The sector’s growth, though, faces an assortment of new challenges, including structural barriers, such as energy access shortfalls and affordability gaps. Still, in its March-released 2021 Global Wind Report, GWEC suggests the world will need a trebling in the volume of wind energy projects worldwide over the next decade to meet global climate challenges. However, the stunning growth of installed wind power over the past decade globally-from 238 GW in 2011 to 743 GW in 2020, according to GWEC-has transformed wind power into a mature and mainstream energy source that is cost-competitive with new coal and gas plants. But as the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) had then noted, its future widespread uptake was still uncertain owing to concerns about its competitiveness against generation from coal, nuclear, and new sources of “cheap” gas, as well as “an assault on existing price mechanisms” in many markets that were pegged to the credit crisis and government budget shortfalls. In 2011, to be fair, wind power was just beginning to make its mark on energy markets. Ten years ago, POWER published a comprehensive article exploring the emergence of “novel-and sometimes plain wacky-designs” that were then thought of as viable alternatives to the ubiquitous three-bladed wind turbine design. Wind turbine technology continues to evolve under new market demands-as well as an urgency to expand to further decarbonization.
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