Renewable energy industry

Global renewable energy investment growth (1995-2007)

The present-day renewable energy industry is an energy industry focusing on "new" and "appropriate" renewable energy technologies, which excludes large-scale hydro-electricity. Investors worldwide have paid much greater attention to this emerging renewable energy industry in recent years. In many cases, this has translated into rapid renewable energy commercialization and considerable industry expansion. The wind power and solar photovoltaics (PV) industries provide good examples of this.

Renewable energy industries expanded during most of 2008, with large increases in manufacturing capacity, diversification of manufacturing locations, and shifts in leadership. By August 2008, there were at least 160 publicly traded renewable energy companies with a market capitalization greater than $100 million. The number of companies in this category has expanded from around 60 in 2005.

Leading renewable energy companies include Acciona, Enercon, Gamesa, GE Energy, Q-Cells, Sharp Solar, SunOpta, Suntech, and Vestas. Several renewable energy companies have recently gone through high profile Initial Public Offerings, including Aventine (USA), First Solar (USA), Iberdrola (Spain), and VeraSun Energy (USA).

Overview

By mid-2007, some 140 publicly-traded renewable energy companies worldwide (or renewable energy divisions of major companies) each had a market capitalization greater than $40 million. (The number of companies in this category jumped from about 85 in mid-2006.) The estimated total market capitalization of these companies and divisions was more than $100 billion in mid-2007.

During 2006/2007, several renewable energy companies went through high profile Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), resulting in market capitalization near or above $1 billion. These corporations included the solar PV companies First Solar (USA), Trina Solar (USA), Centrosolar (Germany), and Renesola (U.K.), wind power company Iberdrola (Spain), and U.S. biofuels producers VeraSun Energy, Aventine, and Pacific Ethanol.

Continued growth for the renewable energy sector is expected in the mid- to long-term, but 2009 will be a year of refocus, consolidation, or retrenchment for many companies. At the same time, new government spending, regulation, and policies should help the industry weather the current economic crisis better than many other sectors. Clean Edge suggests that the commercialization of clean energy will help countries around the world pull out of the current economic malaise.

Wind power

See also: Wind power industry

In December 2008, worldwide capacity of wind power was 122,000 MW, of which 28,190 MW was capacity added in 2008.

Companies

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Vestas V80 wind turbines

See also: List of wind turbine manufacturers

Currently three quarters of global wind turbine sales come from only four turbine manufacturing companies: Vestas, Gamesa, Enercon, and GE Energy. With a 23% market share, Vestas is the largest supplier of modern wind turbines. Vestas has installed some 35,000 wind turbines in 63 countries on five continents. Vestas wind turbines generate more than 60 million MWh of energy per year: enough electricity to supply millions of households. Vestas is a Danish company which employs 14,000 people globally.

Gamesa, founded in 1976 with headquarters in Bilbao, Spain, is currently the world's second largest wind turbine manufacturer, after Vestas, and it is also a major builder of wind farms. Gamesa’s main markets are within Europe, the US and China. In 2006, Europe accounted for 65 percent of Gamesa’s sales, of which 40 percent were within Spain.

In 2004, German company Enercon installed a total of 1,288 MW of wind power and had around 16% of the global market share. Enercon constructed production facilities in Brazil in 2006, and has extended its presence there, as well as in the more traditional markets of Germany, India, Austria, UK, Canada and the Netherlands.

GE Energy has installed over 5,500 wind turbines and 3,600 hydro turbines, and its installed capacity of renewable energy worldwide exceeds 160,000 MW. GE Energy bought out Enron Wind in 2002 and also has nuclear energy operations in its portfolio.

Acciona Energy is a leader in the renewable energy sector and the company’s mission is to "demonstrate the technical and economic viability of a sustainable energy model". Acciona Energy is the largest developer, owner and operator of wind farms in the world, with 164 wind farms in nine countries representing over 4,500 MW of wind power installed or under construction.

Trends

Although the wind power industry will be impacted by the global financial crisis in 2009 and 2010, a BTM Consult five year forecast up to 2013 projects substantial growth. Over the past five years the average growth in new installations has been 27.6 per cent each year. In the forecast to 2013 the expected average annual growth rate is 15.7 per cent. More than 200 GW of new wind power capacity could come on line before the end of 2013. Wind power market penetration is expected to reach 3.35 per cent by 2013 and 8 per cent by 2018.

Offshore wind power installations are emerging, and recent years have seen several hundred megawatts added annually, mostly in Europe.

Photovoltaics

See also: Photovoltaic power stations

Companies

See also: List of photovoltaics companies

Monocrystalline solar cell

Q-Cells became the world's largest solar cell maker in 2007, producing nearly 400 MW of product. Longtime market leader Sharp Corporation found itself in second place with production of 370 MW in 2007, which the company blamed on a constrained supply of silicon. China's Suntech was close behind the leaders with more than 300 MW of output. Kyocera and its 200 MW output was a distant fourth in 2007.

Four new companies entered the top ranks in 2007. CdTe-cell maker First Solar was at fifth place, the only US-based and only thin-film supplier in the Top 10 companies. Asian players Motech Solar (Taiwan), Yingli Green Energy (China), and JA Solar Holdings (China/Australia) rounded out the Top 10 ranking, pushing aside some established players like Mitsubishi Electric, Schott, and BP Solar.

Trends

Solar photovoltaics have been expanding rapidly, growing at an average of 40 percent per year since the beginning of this decade, albeit from a small base. In the past five years, global solar installations have expanded from approximately 600 MW in 2003 to nearly 3000 MW in 2008.

During 2007, investment in new solar PV manufacturing facilities was strong in Europe, Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and the United States, with many new operations reported. The solar PV industry also saw an increase in silicon production facilities around the world, which was a response to silicon feedstock shortages in recent years. Solar PV manufacturers were signing long-term contracts to ensure a growing supply, and many silicon manufacturers are announcing plans to build new plants. By the end of 2007, more than 70 silicon manufacturing facilities were being constructed or planned worldwide.

According to a 2008 analysis by New Energy Finance (NEF), the cost of photovoltaic electricity is due to drop considerably in 2009. NEF's latest "Silicon and Wafer Price Index" shows average silicon contract prices falling by more than 30% in 2009, compared with 2008.

Concentrating solar power

The 11MW PS10 solar power tower near Seville in Spain.

Since 2004 there has been renewed interest in concentrating solar power (CSP) and three plants were completed during 2006/2007: the 64 MW Nevada Solar One, a 1 MW trough plant in Arizona, and the 11 MW PS10 solar power tower in Spain. Three 50 MW trough plants were under construction in Spain at the end of 2007 with ten additional 50 MW plants planned. In the United States, utilities in California and Florida have announced plans (or contracted for) at least eight new projects totaling more than 2,000 MW. Companies involved in new projects include Abengoa Solar, Acciona, Ausra, BrightSource Energy, Iberdrola, Solar Millennium, and Stirling Energy Systems.

Biofuels

Information on pump, California.

In the ethanol fuel industry, the United States dominated, with 130 operating ethanol plants in 2007, and production capacity of 26 billion liters/year (6.87 billion gallons/year), a 60 percent increase over 2005. Another 84 plants were under construction or undergoing expansion, and this will result in a doubled production capacity. Brazil continued its ethanol expansion plans which began in 2005.

The biodiesel industry opened many new production facilities during 2006/2007 and continued expansion plans in several countries. New biodiesel capacity appeared throughout Europe, including in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Commercial investment in second-generation biofuels began in 2006/2007, and much of this investment went beyond pilot-scale plants. The world’s first commercial wood-to-ethanol plant began operation in Japan in 2007, with a capacity of 1.4 million liters/year. The first wood-to-ethanol plant in the United States is planned for 2008 with an initial output of 75 million liters/year.

Employment

Renewable energy use tends to be more labor-intensive than fossil fuels, and so a transition toward renewables promises employment gains. Globally, about 2.3 million people work either directly in renewables or indirectly in supplier indus­tries. The wind power industry employs some 300,000 people, the PV sector accounts for an estimated 170,000 jobs, and the solar thermal industry accounts for about 624,000. More than 1 million jobs are located in the biomass and biofuels sector.

See also

• List of concentrating solar thermal power companies
• List of countries by electricity production from renewable source
• List of the largest hydroelectric power stations
• List of large wind farms
• List of solar thermal power stations
• Renewable energy policy
• Sustainable industries
• The Clean Tech Revolution

Bibliography

• International Energy Agency (2006). World Energy Outlook 2006: Summary and Conclusions, OECD, 11 pages.

• International Energy Agency (2007). Renewables in global energy supply: An IEA facts sheet, OECD, 34 pages.

• REN21 (2008). Renewables 2007 Global Status Report, Paris: REN21 Secretariat, 51 pages.

• United Nations Environment Program (2006). Changing climates: The Role of Renewable Energy in a Carbon-constrained World, January, 33 pages.

• United Nations Environment Programme and New Energy Finance Ltd. (2007). Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in OECD and Developing Countries, 52 pages.

• Worldwatch Institute and Center for American Progress (2006). American energy: The renewable path to energy security, 40 pages.

External links

• Investors Pour Unprecedented Billions Into Renewable Energy
• Five Trends to Watch in the Renewable Energy Industry
• The Sunny Side of the Street: Investing in Solar
• Solar continues to shine despite the dark future
• Investment in Renewables Will Lead to US Economic Recovery, Leaders Say
• Optimism Abounds Throughout Renewable Energy Industry
• GE Energy turbine sales to grow fivefold in Europe
• Renewable Energy Spain