China, the market leader, and the US (second) installed 23,261 and 20,182 rotor blades, respectively, GlobalData research shows. Together the two countries contributed to more than 65 per cent of global installations. India, with 3,306 blades installed -- or rougly 5 per cent of the total -- came in third.
The GlobalData report also shows (not surprisingly) that China has emerged as a major manufacturing hub of wind turbine rotor blades. Working within what is currently the largest wind power market in the world, China’s manufacturers, supported by government subsidies and favourable policies, produce approximately 25 per cent of the world’s rotor blades, according to Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham, analyst for GlobalData.
“While European nations such as Denmark, Germany and Spain have been pioneers in this industry, a major shift to the Asia-Pacific region has occurred, particularly in China, India and Vietnam," Nagatham expained. "This can be attributed to the availability of low-cost labor in the region, as well as government support for the local turbine and component manufacturing industry.”
On the whole, Nagatham says increasing levels of wind power generation have given the wind turbine and component manufacturing industry a significant boost over the past years, as evidenced by the wide geographical spread. He expects the global wind power market to continued to grow steadily over the coming years, with annual turbine installations expected to increase from 48.3 GW in 2014 to 61.4 GW by 2020.