Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the GWEC, will be instantly recognisable to most within the industry. His unique experience on the international policy stage coupled with an in-depth understanding of climate change and renewable energy represent a real step change for GWEC’s global lobbying efforts. Here, he talks to PES about the strength of the industry and gives us an insider’s perspective on the North American sector.
PES: Thank you for talking to us. Broadly speaking, how has the global industry evolved since last year – and do you remain optimistic for the future?
Steve Sawyer: In 2009, we expected that the growth of wind power would slow down globally as a result of the financial crisis and its ramifications for the ‘real economy’, but this did not happen. Instead, we witnessed the strongest growth ever with an annual market increase of by 41 per cent compared to 2008. In 2010, however, the consequences of the crisis, particularly the dearth of orders in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 have worked their way through the system, and as a result, the yearon- year market growth in the sector will probably remain in single digits for the first time in some years.
This is compounded by a weak US economy and increasing uncertainty in the regulatory framework. Having said that, other markets such China and Europe continue their expansion of wind power, and we expect this to result in new additions of wind power of around 40 GW this year. And yes, I do remain very optimistic for the future – our latest report shows how wind power can reach over 1,000 GW by 2020, and given the past performance of the industry, this figure seems very achievable.
PES: In this issue we’re focussing on the North American wind industry,which seems to be booming in parts yet faltering in others. In your opinion, what needs to be done to turn this ‘sleeping giant’ into a wind world leader?
SS: The majority of the North American market of course mainly means the US, but the Canadian market has been picking up of late, and we expect record installations in 2010. The US has been leading the world in total installed capacity for several years now, but this leadership is being threatened by China, which may in fact overtake the US as the number one wind country by the end of this year.
