It wasn't long ago that I was writing articles about how high demand in the wind turbine industry was causing supply chain bottlenecks and driving the cost of wind turbines increasingly higher. Demand was so high just two years ago that the smaller community wind projects couldn't even get their hands on a single turbine because big wind farms were buying up the production output from all wind manufacturers with their big orders. But times have changed. According to the latest Wind Turbine Price Index (WTPI), published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, wind turbine prices continue to stagnate, with little chance of prices climbing back to their 2008 highs for at least a few years.

Falling wind turbine prices are what will eventually bring the cost of utility-scale wind energy to a place that is more competitive with traditional generating capacity (i.e fossil fuels and nuclear power), and in that respect, falling prices are a good thing. But falling prices because of excess inventory and lagging demand is not the route the wind turbine industry nor renewable energy advocates were hoping to take to get there.

“The current market oversupply will continue for quite a while longer," William Young, manager of New Energy Finance’s Wind Insight Service, told Bloomberg in August.

New Energy Finance indicated that most wind turbine buyers don't expect prices to return to their 2008 high until 2013.

"That may not be great for wind turbine manufacturers, but the good news for the sector is that it will improve the competitiveness of wind with gas, coal and nuclear,” added Young.

New Energy Finance’s Wind Turbine Price Index, published twice a year, is based on a survey of confidential data provided by 22 turbine buyers. The H2 2010 report covers 110 contracts, or about a quarter of the market, the company said.

Photo: Some rights reserved by tuey Via: North American Windpower Monthly

Reprinted with permission from Earth and Industry