Emerging economies in Asia-Pacific have reached 41 gigawatts of wind power capacity as of 2009 from only 1.7 GW in 2000 but the sector faces technological problems toward further growth, warned an investment consultancy.
According to a new study from investment analyst Frost & Sullivan, government support and the region’s favorable geographical location were the main contributors to the leap in generation capacity.
The analyst said recognition of the region’s resource potential and energy security concerns are driving activity in the renewable energy sector.
The 2009 total is twice bigger than 2008 figures, as growth in Asia-Pacific reached the point where wind installations can be duplicated in a single year.
Frost & Sullivan also noted that the Asia-Pacific wind industry mitigated the negative effects of the economic downturn thanks to wind energy project funding provided by government-aided institutions and local utilities.
The analyst said tremendous wind potential is being transformed into tangible projects especially due to China’s explosive growth and the increase in Chinese installations, which has uplifted the global wind energy market.
Concerns
However, a number of concerns require attention to avert stagnation. For instance, around 30 percent of power produced by wind farms could not be transmitted to the electricity grid because of inefficiencies resulting from existing infrastructure that cannot handle renewables.
And although Asia-Pacific and Australia possess great offshore potential, the high costs involved in developing offshore wind power – which is two to three times higher compared with onshore wind – hinders development in this area.
A number of technological innovations in deepwater floating and shallow-water turbines have been explored to make harnessing offshore power more feasible.
To address grid problems, India, China, Australia, Vietnam and Thailand are investing heavily in high-voltage direct current systems to support their countries’ increasing power load. These systems support offshore wind by enabling transmission over long distances and connecting offshore wind power through efficient underwater cabling.
“Wind power capital costs are the lowest in Asia-Pacific and it is expected to be reduced by another percent to 30 percent in the next decade,” said Frost & Sullivan, which expects steady wind market growth if cost reduction and grid upgrade efforts are achieved.
Domestic investments currently dominate the Asia-Pacific wind energy market. But the study forecasts foreign investment to increase in 2010 as new regulations encourage markets to open up.
Still, challenges remain in the ambiguity of some renewable energy policies and the competition that wind energy would face from another renewable sector, solar energy.
Solar energy is reportedly nearing large-scale commercialization and its attractiveness could eventually surpass that of wind’s, the analyst said.
