Orders for new wind turbines are being held up as a result of inflationary cost pressures, sluggish permitting, and uncertainty surrounding the emergency electricity market measures undertaken by the EU. In the third quarter of 2022, WindEurope monitored orders for new wind turbines with a combined capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). There were nine different countries that placed orders. They were all for turbines that would be placed on land. The most additional capacity was ordered by Finland, which came in at 322 megawatts (MW), followed by Sweden and Germany.
This takes the total orders for the year 2022 up to 7.7 GW, which is a significant distance from what Europe requires to meet its energy and climate goals. The European Union’s goal for wind power by 2030 is 510 gigawatts (GW). This indicates that the wind sector ought to install 39 GW of new wind power every year up until the year 2030. If the current rate of orders for turbines continues, Europe will miss this target by a significant margin. The results for the third quarter are consistent with a general declining trend in orders for wind turbines. *Disclosed wind turbine orders reached 2.8 GW in the first quarter of 2021. Since then, they have mainly been dropping.
It has never been more important to rapidly expand the use of wind power for a number of reasons, including the protection of the environment and the maintenance of reasonable energy costs. This calls for a significant shift in EU policy, namely in the areas of accelerating the permitting of new projects, providing clarity to investors in renewable energy, and enhancing and growing the European wind supply chain. At the meeting of the European Council that took place on October 21, heads of state and government made a formal request to the European Commission to speed up the process of simplifying permits. In a joint letter that was just just made public, WindEurope made a request to the European Commission, requesting that it utilize Article 122 of the EU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in order to propose an emergency regulation in this regard. This would ensure that the deployment of renewable energy sources is recognized as a matter of paramount public interest, and it would decrease the maximum licensing length to two years, beginning with the submission of the initial application for a permit.
Prior to being able to move forward with new projects and order new turbines, investors and developers require clarity on future revenue projections, in addition to improvements in the regulatory process. According to the six proposals made by the industry, national governments have an immediate obligation to clarify their approach to income caps on ancillary producers of electricity (such as wind) as soon as feasible. The European wind energy supply chain continues to suffer from problems caused by slow permits and insufficient market size. In addition, the prices of raw materials, components, and international transportation have skyrocketed, which has increased the amount of strain placed on the European wind sector. The sector need support from the political system.
The European Union has a responsibility to ensure that financing from the Recovery and Resilience programs is used toward enhancing and growing the supply chain for wind energy. Additionally, the European Investment Bank has the potential to play a significant part in the maintenance of the supply chain. Also possible are tax credits comparable to those that are already available in the United States according to the Inflation Reduction Act. WindEurope’s Wind Turbine Orders Monitoring Q3 2022 report includes supplementary information regarding recent orders placed with wind turbine manufacturers, as well as information regarding specific turbine types, average power ratings, and specifications. You’ll find it in the Members’ Area of our website, where you’ll also find historical Orders Monitoring reports and a wide variety of other technological observations. In addition, you will have access to interactive tools that will permit you to examine previous turbine order data as well as OEM shares broken down by country.
Companies that are publicly traded are required to publish their orders. WindEurope monitored 15 confirmed orders* for publicly listed original equipment manufacturers. After that, WindEurope made an estimate of the orders for OEMs that weren’t listed. WindEurope is the trade association that speaks for the wind industry and is working to increase the use of wind power across Europe. We have over 500 members, and they come from all different aspects of the wind energy value chain, including: wind turbine manufacturers; component suppliers; power utilities and wind farm developers; financial institutions; research institutes; and national wind energy organisations.
