According to Wood Mackenzie, the market for wind turbines outside of China and North America increased by 12% in the first half of 2023.
The energy consultant stated in a study on Thursday that the total amount of orders received during the period hit a record 69.5 gigawatts, with orders from outside China increasing by 47% from the same period a year earlier.
With two offshore contracts accounting for over half of the total, North American orders increased by more than four times to 7.7 gigawatts.
Although 44 gigawatts of orders were placed in the first half of this year in China, the world’s largest consumer of renewable energy, the report stated that demand was unchanged from the previous year.
Global orders totaled $25.3 billion in the second quarter and $40.5 billion in the first half, respectively.
Luke Lewandowski, vice president of global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie, said, “We’ve seen substantial interest outside of China this year, which is really encouraging.”
Although there are still issues with the supply chain, things have become better enough to encourage purchasing decisions.
Order activity has been aided by momentum from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US, but volume will increase as clarity and market certainty improve.
The IRA, passed last year, promotes the purchase of electric vehicles and offers a number of tax benefits on renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and hydropower.
According to Goldman Sachs, it is anticipated to stimulate $3 trillion in investments in renewable energy technology.
In the first half of the year, offshore order intake increased by 26% to a record 12 gigawatts, according to Wood Mackenzie. It increased by 48 percent to 9.1 gigawatts in the second quarter.
As project developers awaited permits and clearances, “momentum had been growing in the offshore market for some time, and many deals had been subject to those conditions.”
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, 2022 was the “second-best” year for new capacity for the offshore wind industry globally, with 8.8 gigawatts of new renewable energy being connected to the grid globally.
According to a report released this week by the council, nearly half of the 380 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity that will be built by 2032 will originate from the Asia-Pacific area.
Due to delays brought on by permitting and other regulatory concerns, the council revised its short-term projection downward for Europe and North America and stated that supply chain bottlenecks were a danger for all regions except China.
Slow permission clearances, increased costs for raw materials and shipping, and other issues are posing major hurdles to the European wind industry, particularly turbine manufacturers.
In the meanwhile, as nations attempt to solve future energy shortages, investment in clean energy is predicted to exceed $1.7 trillion this year, overtaking spending on fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency.
According to the Paris-based agency’s World Energy Investment report from April, global energy investments are expected to total $2.8 trillion in 2023, with more than 60% of that amount going toward sustainable technologies including renewable energy, electric vehicles, nuclear power, and heat pumps.
Coal, gas, and crude oil will make up the final 40% of spending.