Supply chain problems and uncertainty about tax breaks in the congressional spending bill threaten the growth of wind power in the United States.
Despite strong global demand for renewable energy, many companies are struggling to deliver turbines on budget and plan due to shipping delays, rising costs and many other factors, and analysts are predicting a slowdown in US wind power growth next year.
Shares in Vestas Wind Systems, a US wind turbine maker, tumbled as much as 18 per cent on Wednesday after saying supply chain problems would affect its profit margins.
Henrik Andersen, chief executive of Vestas, said traffic jams at ports around the world were worsening, according to the Wall Street Journal. It will take "a few quarters" to improve the situation, which may not happen until 2022.
At the same time, the blades of most land-based installations are more than 200 feet long, while the largest offshore blades can span a football field; moving these equipment requires special trucks, large cranes and large ships.
Andersen said that even the relatively simple cost of transporting goods in containersIt has also increased by 8 to 12 times this year.
On Friday, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA) said it expects supply shortages to continue into next year and have an impact on operations. The company's shares fell 3 per cent on the day and 20 per cent this week.
Wall Street mentioned earlier that Democrats failed to vote on a $1.75 trillion tax and spending plan in the House of Representatives at the same time. The plan is a large part of Biden's domestic agenda, including an extension of the wind energy tax credit.
This leaves the two companies facing uncertainty about their future prospects. General Electric Co said last week that the uncertainty of tax breaks has led to a reduction in the number of orders, which has dealt a "severe blow" to the company. The company now expects negative free cash flow from its renewable energy business this year.
Because of these factors, the number of new onshore wind power plants in the US will fall by nearly 30 per cent next year compared with the same period last year, according to Wood Mackenzie, a research and consulting firm.
Sean McLoughlin, head of global research industry and clean technology research at HSBC, saidThe onshore wind power market in the United States is the second largest in the world after China.Has a great impact on the industry.
Wood Mackenzie expects global onshore wind power installations to fall by about 1.6 per cent next year, while global offshore wind power installations will grow by about 7 per cent.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Beatriz Puente, chief financial officer of Siemens Gamesa, pointed out on Friday:
By far, the onshore wind power market has been most affected by supply chain bottlenecks, delays in the delivery of specific components, rising freight rates and insufficient capacity.