As demand on finite petroleum reserves and the price of the fuels derived from them continues to rise, renewable forms of energy are becoming more cost-effective and profitable. Wind power is the world’s fastest growing energy source (renewable or otherwise). As a result, the giant rotor blades on the turbines have become the composites industry’s fastest growing fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) application (see “Learn More”). During 2007, slightly more than 20,000 MW of wind power was installed worldwide, for a total installed capacity of 94,112 MW, says the European Wind Energy Assn. (EWEA), an increase of 31 percent compared with 2006. This represents about 17,000 turbines, or nearly 50,000 blades, because nearly all are three-blade, horizontal-axis designs. Assuming a 1.5-MW turbine has a typical blade of 120 ft/36m length that weighs about 11,500 lb/5,216 kg, this represents roughly 400 million lb (200,000 metric tonnes) of composite materials, making wind turbine blade manufacturing, in fact, one of the largest single applications of engineered composites in the world. The vast majority of that total tonnage is glass fiber and thermoset (primarily epoxy and vinyl ester) resins.

The year 2007 marked the first time that the U.S. led the world in annual new installed wind energy capacity — 5,365 MW — followed by China and Spain, says Steve Sawyer, chief executive of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC, Brussels, Belgium). The American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA, Washington, D.C.) notes that turbine installation in the U.S. proceeded at a breakneck pace in 2008, resulting in a total installed capacity of nearly 20,000 MW in 35 states as SB went to press. The group estimates that the record number of installations in 2007 expanded generating capacity by 45 percent in that year alone and injected more than $9 billion (USD) into the economy. About 1 percent of the U.S. electricity supply will be produced by wind at the end of 2008, according to AWEA stats.

The U.S. renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC), both of which were set to expire at the end of 2008, were extended by one year as an add-on to the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 — the U.S. federal “bailout” bill designed to prop up struggling banking and credit institutions. Despite the threats to the global economy, at least four major U.S. companies announced new U.S. wind projects for 2009 as a result of the PTC extension.

China added 3,500 MW of wind capacity during 2007, which represented a market growth of 156 percent compared to 2006, and it ranks fifth in total wind power generating capacity. Based on current growth rates, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Assn. (CREIA, Beijing, China) forecasts a capacity of about 50,000 MW by 2015. Much of that growth is being satisfied by domestic production, and 40 Chinese companies are now manufacturing wind turbines and blades, says CREIA.

Major manufacturers are cashing in on this huge market with global expansion. For example, Vestas Wind Systems AS (Randers, Denmark) will open three new facilities in the U.S. state of Colorado, an investment of more than $500 million (USD). In the past year, blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber (Lunderskov, Denmark) has opened new production plants in China, India, Poland and in the U.S. (Little Rock, Ark.). India’s Suzlon Wind Energy Corp. (Maharashtra, India) has expanded its production capacity with new plants in the U.S. (Minnesota) and Tianjin, China.

GWEC’s Sawyer predicts that the global wind power market will grow by more than 155 percent, reaching 240 GW of total installed capacity by 2012. Other analysts predict wind will provide 7 to 8 percent of the world’s electricity by 2020.

Renewable energy isn’t just about wind power: Other composites-intensive markets include marine power sources, both wave and tidal energy generators. An entity in the U.K. recently installed a 1.2 MW tidal energy generator in Strangford Narrows, Northern Ireland. The SeaGen project includes twin 16m/52-ft diameter two-bladed rotors made from composites. And the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced in September 2008 an award of as much as to $7.3 million to 14 research teams for Advanced Water Power Projects. Several of the grant recipients are involved in development of subsea composite wave or
current generators.