Report of the Month - A look at the future of the Latin American wind energy market

Although wind plant construction across Latin America is modest compared to more established markets, such as South and East Asia, North America, and Europe, the region’s wind power industry is taking off at a rapid pace.

Latin America has become the hottest growth market for the wind energy industry at a time when growth rates in other markets are flat due to a variety of policy and macroeconomic challenges.

According to a new report from Navigant Research, annual wind power installations in Latin America will roughly double, in terms of capacity, over the next 10 years, growing from nearly 2.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2013 to 4.3 GW by 2022.

“Latin America is expected to account for at least 5.5 percent of the world’s new wind power installations in 2013,” says Feng Zhao, research director with Navigant Research.  “With the strong political support of most governments and rapid economic growth fueling rising electricity demand, wind markets in the region are expected to exhibit double-digit compound annual growth rates through the next 10 years.”

The latest 2013 wind power contract auction round in Brazil resulted in prices stabilizing at higher rates, and the signing on of 1,505 megawatts (MW) of new wind capacity, according to the report.  This suggests that the unsustainable downward trend in prices bottomed out last year, and the Brazilian market appears to be poised for strong growth moving forward.  This will provide the foundation for wind energy growth across Latin America, the study concludes.

The report, “Latin America Wind Market Assessment”, provides a comprehensive view of the wind energy market dynamics at play in 15 wind power markets in Latin America.  The country-by-country analysis outlines the key energy policies and development opportunities and barriers, identifies which companies own operational wind plants, and examines the competitive landscape for wind turbine vendors supplied those projects.  Market forecasts for wind power installations, capacity, and market share in Latin America, segmented by country and company, extend through 2022.  The report also offers an especially close analysis of Brazil and Mexico, the region’s largest wind markets, and examines the emerging wind supply chain and subcomponent manufacturers.  An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research website.