UK leads the way in wind power

Why has the UK overtaken Spain in terms of wind power investment? Jonathan Johns, who leads Ernst & Young's Renewable Energies Group explains, "Since we last published the Index in October 2002 the Government has published details of the ROC extension to 15% by 2015 and the Round 2 offshore wind extension. This has underlined the serious commitment to wind power by the DTI and the attractiveness of the UK as a potential destination for both on and offshore wind projects." Johns believes that, "The UK provides a friendly environment for renewable energy as a whole and in particular the wind sector with a combination of an attractive capital allowance regime and the availability of capital grants. For offshore wind and other renewables. The market based mechanism does create a bias towards on balance sheet financing structures, although the relevant ROC extension to 2015 has been helpful. The only disappointing score in the index for the UK remains in the solar sector, which continues to be too expensive for investors.

Spain once again tops the table. Jonathan Johns explains, "Spain's lead in the international renewables index continues to be due to the deregulated domestic market and an attractive planning environment as well as good access to finance. Spain has an attractive onshore wind market due to the high installed capacity, strong national players, ambitious national RE targets that filter down to regional level. Spain also benefits from a very high solar resource with growth being driven by a Government with ambitious targets for renewable energy and the relatively attractive feed-in tariffs."

Although it has slipped a position in both the overall renewable and the wind rankings, the USA remains an attractiveness venue due to the largely deregulated electricity market, the wide availability of land and a favourable planning environment. However the delays in the passing of the Energy Bill and the subsequent lack of tax incentives for wind and biomass projects is responsible for the decline. Johns comments," Hopefully this is only a temporary blip. The US has strong growth potential in all areas of renewable energy and ambitious federal and regional targets, however the recent weakness of the dollar has increased the local cost of European sourced wind turbines which may make some projects uneconomic."

Germany has improved its position since October across all sectors due to the renewal of its tariff and is second only to the United States in terms of solar power with some high profile projects like Berlin Hauptbahnhof train station. Financing does however remain difficult in this market and capacity increases are likely to fall. The 20 year Government guaranteed feed-in tariff is also encouraging development in the Wind and Biomasses sectors although there are some concerns about the ongoing availability of bank financing.

Although the medium term future for renewables is bright, there are short term issues in the USA and Germany which could lead to a slowing volume growth in 2004, before UK and offshore markets come on stream. Consolidation is already taking place in the wind turbine sector, with more likely to follow and increasing pressure on the supplier chain.