With the American wind industry seeing record growth in the last two years (see here here and here) It is no surprise that independent power producer FPL Energy narrowly edged out Spanish utility Iberdrola to become the top global wind power owner in 2006, according to the latest rankings from Emerging Energy Research.
FPL Energy closed 2006 ahead of Iberdrola by just 156 MW following major US project activations, but Iberdrola will likely reclaim leadership in 2007 with the acquisition of ScottishPower, which represents 1,400 MW of wind power capacity installed in the UK and the US, according to EER’s Global Wind Plant Ownership Rankings. EER ranks the global top 20 wind plant owners, on a net-ownership basis, which together account for approximately one-third of wind power capacity worldwide.
“Competition for global wind power leadership remains intense, with North America’s sustained growth providing a major boost to FPL and up-and-coming IPPs to compete with the acquisition strategies of European rivals,” according to EER Research Director Keith Hays. “The rankings reflect a continuation of European utility dominance, though US players’ activations of mega projects and North America’s broader growth prospects will increase competition across the Atlantic in the near future,” says Hays. Led by firms active in the US and Spain, the top 20 wind power operators added over 5,100 MW in 2006. These activations have come through a roughly even mix of existing pipeline projects on line, and completion of major developer acquisitions, according to EER.
Led by Iberdrola and FPL, utilities continue to dominate the rankings, representing 14 of the top 20 wind power owners ranked by EER. IPP activity is also on the rise as these firms consolidate global pipelines. Major IPPs Acciona Energia, Babcock & Brown, Trinergy, and Horizon have become key players through portfolio and project acquisition. China’s booming wind power market growth has pushed national wind power champion Long Yuan into the top 15 with over 600 MW as the only exclusively Asia-focused player in the rankings.
“The industry’s global scaling is drawing wind plant leaders into new domestic and international markets, with a focus on acquisitions and on execution of project pipelines resulting from these deals,” says Hays. “Sustaining a steady flow of MW additions will become increasingly dependent on diversifying geographically, with North America evolving as the largest scale near term opportunity for global leaders on top of steady, smaller European project growth.”
This sort of growth in American renewable energy needs to continue. We should be dominating world wind production, and world wind turbine production. The market is there we simply need to grab it. Renewable energy equipment manufacturing would provide much needed industrial jobs that have been shipped overseas in recent years. Lets hope that this trend continues with more and more American utilities getting into the renewable market.