Wind Turbine Blade Market Research Report - Forecast to 2030

Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Wind Turbine Blade Market

The outbreak COVID-19, which started in China, has had a major impact on the global economy in several ways. The energy sector has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the industry is facing various hurdles that are leading to a decline in the electricity demand, especially from the industrial and commercial sectors. Moreover, the global renewable industry is also negatively affected due to this pandemic as most of the countries across the world are dependent on other countries for imports and exports of raw materials and components that are required in the commencement of renewable energy generation sources. Moreover, the pandemic has not only disrupted the supply chain of the renewable energy market but also has influenced the market in many other ways, including changing government policies, delaying the commencement of renewable energy projects, and halting government subsidies in promoting renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the lockdown and travel restrictions caused due to this pandemic have resulted in the restriction of the movement of people and goods, which will eventually drive up the capital expenditures of renewable power projects, especially wind energy projects. Many countries across the globe, such as the US, India, and Spain, are heavily dependent on other countries for the import of wind turbine blades. Thus, this pandemic has resulted in the halt of the production of wind turbine blades, which eventually results in a disrupted supply of wind turbine blades worldwide. For instance, as per the US Department of Energy, the US imports nearly 30%–50% of blades and hubs from other countries, primarily China.

FIGURE: GLOBAL WIND INSTALLATION CAPACITY, GW (2013 TO 2019)

As per the statistics of the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), the global installation capacity of wind turbines grew by 10.1% in 2019 compared to 2018, with an addition of 59.67 GW in 2019. However, the installation of wind power projects has come to a halt in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the delayed installation of wind power projects worldwide. Additionally, many wind turbine blade manufacturers such as Siemens, LM Wind Power, and Acciona have shut down their production facilities, resulting in huge backlogs and delays in completing orders for wind power projects. Moreover, the prominent countries engaged in the business of manufacturing wind turbine blades such as China, Spain, and Italy have been drastically hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to lockdown measures, leading to the shutdown of manufacturing hubs. This has resulted in the production delays across the world, halting the wind installations projects worldwide. As the industry is observing several obstacles such as a reduction in production, lockdown restriction, and others, the global market players are emphasizing on the development of preventive measures and new business models to address the situation in the global market.

Source: Primary Experts, Secondary Sources, and MRFR Analysis

Source: World Wind Energy Association