JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #40 - May 2008 - 27

Market update capacity will be needed to support the industry. Shortages of key raw materials such as glass fiber and steel could potentially reduce growth. Key enabling raw materials such as glass fiber are strategically important for long term market growth. As a supplier to fabricators in the wind energy market, OCV Reinforcements and OCV Technical Fabrics understand the focus on trust and raw material supply security, and we are committed to supporting the business with reliable quality and delivery. The new wind projects account for about 30 percent of the entire new power-producing capacity added nationally in 2007 and will power the equivalent of 1.5 million American households annually. The U.S. wind power grid now totals 16,818 megawatts and spans 34 states. American wind farms will generate an estimated 48 billion kilowatt-hours of wind energy in 2008, just over 1 percent of US electricity supply, powering the equivalent of over 4.5 million homes. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the US has overtaken Spain as the world’s second-largest wind power market, after Germany. A recent study by Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., projected $65 billion in investment from 2007 to 2015. Hydro-Quebec in Canada recently released a tender to purchase 2,000 megawatts of wind power from private developers with wind-farm projects to be put into operation between 2010 and 2015. Supply contracts for the new wind farms will generate about $4 billion in investments. There will need to be several new facilities across Canada to build the blades and nacelle covers. And since 1 megawatt of capacity requires between 6.5 and 7 metric tonnes of glass fiber, that one contract will require the production of more than 15,000 metric tonnes of glass fiber. India and China have also been developing wind energy. In these countries wind power allows authorities to provide electricity to isolated rural populations. China is planning to produce 15 percent of its electricity with wind by 2020. And while this is the longest section of our article, it reflects only the tip of the iceberg. Similar activities are going on around the globe. New Capacity As we write this article, the most recent open house was held in the US for a new wind blade fabrication facility built by Vestas Wind Systems A/S in Windsor, Colorado. Headquartered in Demark, Vestas first announced plans to establish a manufacturing facility in the US in November 2006 and broke ground in June 2007. Less than six months later the company announced that it was expanding production capacity at the factory from 1,200 to 1,800 blades annually. Last November, GE Energy announced that it had signed a blade manufacturing agreement with TPI Composites, Warren, R.I. In support of the agreement, TPI plans to build a new 316,000-squarefoot (29,360m2) facility in Newton, Iowa. That announcement followed a groundbreaking ceremony in November by Molded Fiber Glass Companies for a new wind turbine manufacturing plant in Aberdeen, S.D. The plant will fabricate blades for GE’s 1.5-MW machine, one of the most widely used wind turbines in the world. GE recently reported that it has increased its wind turbine production by 500 percent since 2004. Its wind revenue was more than $4 billion in 2007. As may be evident from these projects, the US has become the fastest growing wind market worldwide. Twentyfour states have now adopted mandates and guidelines that require a certain percentage of energy be utilized from renewable sources in their states. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. installed 5,244 megawatts of capacity in 2007, expanding the nation’s total wind power generating capacity by 45 percent in a single calendar year and investing over $9 billion into the economy. Economics At the end of the day, however, it is about dollars, euros and RMB. The environmental benefits of renewable energy are important but the real driver is the world’s appetite for energy. You can’t have double-digit growth year after year without the economics to support it. Subsidies have helped, but sooner or later wind energy will need to become a stand-alone business. In Denmark and Germany, wind energy is getting less and less support. With all of the subsidies that exist for various forms of energy, it is difficult to really know the cost of energy. How do you quantify the 37-meter blade made by MFG No40 May 2008 / JEC Composites Magazine

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #40 - May 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #40 - May 2008