Long-term market outlook boosts confidence in wind energy sector

The future of the wind power sector is looking increasingly rosy according to the latest WindEnergy trend:index (WEtix), published by global wind energy event WindEnergy Hamburg and market research institute wind:research. “In particular, the long-term market expectations are a major factor contributing to the optimistic assessment of onshore and offshore wind,” said trade show organiser Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC), which is hosting the upcoming WindEnergy Hamburg conference in September. The European and North American markets, “which can significantly expand their positions, are among the biggest winners in the sentiment barometer," it added, noting that the positive trend was also evident in Germany. Despite receiving some extremely negative values in the fourth quarter of 2019, the mood in the German wind industry has clearly improved, according to HMC. “The assessment of the current market situation in Germany's onshore wind industry is gradually returning to the positive range while the offshore wind industry continues the upward trend shown during the last three surveys, now trending on the positive side.” It also says that long-term expectations are particularly optimistic: “The prospects for the market situation two years from now have received the best values in WEtix history for both the onshore and the offshore wind industry.” Respondents also see great potential in green hydrogen, with more than 50 percent saying its production, enabled by digitalisation and new technologies, will play a key role for wind energy over the next three years. The survey also found that the COVID-19 crisis does not seem to have significantly affected the mood in the wind energy industry – on the contrary, “about 70% of respondents either believe that the coronavirus pandemic has no effect on the wind industry, or that it actually affects it in a positive or even very positive manner.”

Onshore wind has seen a couple of difficult years, as expansion volumes dropped due to regulatory issues, as well as problems with permit procedures and local opposition to turbines. The situation with offshore wind is much better and the government plans to grant more space to the technology in the North and Baltic Seas.