Aenert news. Energy Trends
The past year has been a real test for the wind energy industry. Many previous ideas about this technology have been seriously challenged, leading to promising new trends. Moreover, the year has become fruitful for various kinds of records, which are often prohibitive in nature, but obviously will soon become everyday events.
Let us recall that in 2022, according to GWEC, global wind energy increased by 78 GW, which was significantly less than in the two previous years. The GWEC forecast for 2023 assumes the installation of more than 100 GW of new installed capacity with a growth of 15%. There is no exact data yet, and the statistics offered depend significantly on the source. Already in June, GWEC proposed to celebrate a unique world-class achievement - the total installation of wind turbines of 1000 GW. On the other hand, in the EU by the end of 2023, according to a WindEurope press release, 17 GW of new capacity were installed, which is another valid new record. According to Irena, in 2022, slightly more than 15 GW of wind turbines were installed in the EU, and more than 18 GW of wind turbines were installed in Europe, which corresponds to approximately 25% of the global total. Thus, to reach the level of new installation in 2023 of 100 GW in other regions of the world, installation rates must exceed 25%. To be even more precise, only one region can provide real large-scale growth - Asia, and in the person of China. In China, growth rates in some years exceeded 30%, but in the last two years they amounted to 11-16%. In a word, we should wait for official reports from statistical departments of the leading countries of the world in order to clarify the real picture that has developed in the wind energy industry.

The main event of the past year for the wind energy industry was undoubtedly a series of financial problems among many large companies. Siemens gave the start to all this. Technical problems in the bearing design and blades of this reputable company's wind turbines resulted in serious financial losses. Then problems began with offshore wind farm projects in different countries. As a result, for example, the Danish Orsted recorded losses exceeding $4 billion. The financial performance of the industry leader, Vestas, decreased significantly. Another blow to the industry was the decline in profitability of China's largest wind turbine manufacturer, Goldwind.

Goldwind. Revenue, net income and share price



Of course, each company is taking the most active steps to overcome the crisis and there are positive results, as we wrote about in our previous review.

Now let’s look at some generalized indicators of wind energy, which are presented in the figure below and are based primarily on official data.



Industry leaders are known primarily from China, the USA and Germany. This remains true for installed capacity and electricity generation. It is obvious that by the end of 2023 the quality picture in this part will not change.

The data on the share of wind energy in the total volume of electricity generation is quite interesting. Of course, the leadership in this indicator of Denmark, as well as a number of other European countries such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, does not raise questions, since these are long-time industry leaders. However, the presence of Lithuania and Uruguay on this list certainly inspires respect.

The figure also shows about 20 wind farms, each with an installed capacity exceeding 0.750 GW at the end of 2023. Most of them are located in Europe and the USA. Some of these complexes continue to expand. Thus, the world's largest wind farm, Gansu Wind Farm in China, according to some data, has already reached a total capacity of 10 GW, but we have not yet received data on the proportional generation of electricity, so we have maintained the previous power level.

The year 2023 was indicative from the point of view of a massive transition to the construction of large wind turbines for offshore areas. In July, the Chinese Three Gorges Energy announced the construction of a MingYang Smart Energy MySE 16-260 turbine with a capacity of 16 MW in the Taiwan Strait. The height of the tower of this design is 152 meters, the length of each of the three blades is 123 meters, and the rotor diameter is 260 meters. At the time this wind turbine was connected to the network, it was the largest in the world. It should be noted that already in October 2023, Mingyang Smart Energy introduced a new model of offshore wind turbine with a nominal power of 22 MW, the development of which is planned to be carried out between 2024 and 2025.

Another achievement was the construction in September of a record-breaking 185-meter wind turbine, roughly the height of a 60-story building, designed by Goldwind. In addition, hybrid steel-concrete tower technology was used here. According to the company, such a wind turbine is capable of generating 8.38% more electricity than a 160-meter turbine. The GWH252-16 MW wind turbine has blades 123 meters long and a rotor diameter of 252 meters, and an operating area of about 50,000 square meters.

Other companies have also announced their claims to the heavy-duty wind turbine market. Among them are the GE Haliade-X models with a capacity of 18 MW and Vestas V236-15 MW. According to a Vestas press release dated September 29, 2023, 64 turbines of this class with a total capacity of 960 MWt were ordered for the North Sea project alone. In addition, for the Baltic Power Offshore Wind project in Poland, ORLEN S.A. and Northland Power Inc. another 1.140 MWt has been ordered.

Another record in wind energy was set this year in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The power of the wind power plant installed here is relatively small, only 100 MW and it includes 25 turbines. However, the power plant is located at an altitude of 4650 meters, where operating conditions are extremely difficult. Thin air, significant temperature fluctuations, strong winds and often high solar activity create additional difficulties, especially in terms of service life, reliability of all components and maintenance and repair of wind turbines.

At the end of the year, reports emerged about the construction of the tallest modular wind turbine in northern Sweden, the 150-meter-high tower made of wood. The developer of this project was the startup Modvion. According to the company, the use of local wood makes it possible to fully implement a modular version of the tower layout, which is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

In December 2023, a record-breaking investment project began in the United States for the construction of Pattern Energy's SunZia Wind farm in New Mexico with a capacity of 3.5 GW, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The announced cost of the project is $11 billion. An order for 246 turbines for this project was received by the Danish Vestas. In addition to the wind farm itself, the project includes the construction of a 550-mile SunZia Transmission high-voltage direct current transmission line.

Another breakthrough area in the offshore wind energy industry this year was the intensification of the development of special vessels for carrying out installation and repair work at sea. Thus, in August 2023, Goldwind launched a jack-up vessel for installing wind turbines, Goldwind Offshore “ZTT 31,” with a displacement of 1,600 tons. The vessel's platform is 139.1 meters long and 50 meters wide, with a maximum lifting height of 165 meters above the main crane deck. At the same time, it is possible to raise offshore wind turbines with a unit power of 20 MW and a working wheel diameter of more than 320 meters, which opens up broad prospects for the development of offshore wind energy.

By the Editorial Board