The challenge for component manufacturers in the more established markets of the West will be to increase their focus on quality and reliability to drive their own costs down in the years ahead.
On the basis of a wide-ranging industry survey of offshore wind turbine manufacturer OEMs, the new report finds that of the new component suppliers taken on each year 67.4 per cent are based in Europe, 30.4 per cent in Asia, 13 per cent in the US and 6.5 per cent in the UK.
When asked where these new suppliers were likely to be based in 5 years time, given expectations that the offshore sector is on the verge of significant global growth over that period, the picture dramatically changes.
OEMs declared that 50 per cent will be based in Europe, 47.8 per cent will be based in Asia, 13 per cent in the US and 10.9 per cent in the UK.
The report’s authors found a range of reasons for the switch away from mainly European component suppliers to those based in Asia. The most pressing factor was cost.
OEMs looking to respond to the expected ramp-up in offshore projects in Asia, particularly China, described their strategies of ‘globalisation’ and ‘localisation’.
In essence this meant OEMs securing turbine manufacturing work on Asian offshore projects and manufacturing those turbines in near-by factories.
