The average price for global turbine contracts in the last six months of 2010 for delivery in 2011 averaged 980,000 euros a megawatt. In the U.S. the average price was 930,000 euros ($1,269,000), making it the market with the lowest price.
In 2009 the average was 1.06 million euros ($1.44 million) while in 2008 and 2007 it peaked at 1.21 million euros ($1.65 million).
The author of the report said there was a decrease in demand for wind turbines in 2010 due to delays in project financing, creating over-capacity in the United States and Spain. Manufacturers and components suppliers will see lower margins.
The good news is that wind energy in the most wind-favored areas now costs less than $69 a megawatt-hour, getting close to the $67 for coal-fired power plants and $56 for combined cycle plants using gas.
Wind capacity grew 22.5% between 2009 and 2010, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) recently announced. More than half of new added capacity was outside Europe and North America, driven by China, which installed 16.5GW. In total, 35.8GW was installed worldwide.
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