Latin America Wind Turbine Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Latin America wind turbine market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 6% during the forecast period. The primary driver for the market is the government initiatives to stabilize the rising greenhouse gas emission and to have an affordable and sustainable form of energy from various renewable sources like wind. However, lack of proper grid connection, investment, policy framework in countries like Argentina, Columbia, and Peru is expected to hinder the market growth during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• With no offshore wind turbine installation, the onshore wind turbine covers the entire wind turbine market share in 2018 and is likely to dominate the market with upcoming onshore projects during the forecast period.
• Latin American countries have set a collective target of 70% renewable use by 2030. As of 2019, nine countries of the region have agreed to participate on the target, of which Columbia aims to contribute 4 gigawatts of renewable energy towards the 2030 goal of 312 gigawatts. Among the renewable sources, wind energy is expected to be on the top priorities, which is expected to create an opportunity for the wind turbine market in the near future.
• With a significance wind energy market share in 2018, Brazil is dominating the region and is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period, with its addition onshore and offshore wind projects.

Key Market Trends

Onshore Wind Turbine Dominating the Market

• Onshore wind energy power generation technology has evolved over the last five years to maximize electricity produced per megawatt capacity installed to cover more sites with lower wind speeds. Besides this, in recent years, wind turbines have become larger with taller hub heights, broader diameters, and larger wind turbine blades.
• As of 2018, the region has cumulative wind energy installed capacity of around 23 gigawatts, which was primarily from the onshore wind turbines. As of 2018, the region has no offshore wind turbine installation but is expected to have by 2022, with few under-construction offshore projects in Brazil.
• During 2018, the region has added nearly 3.7 gigawatts of onshore wind capacity, of which 51% was added by Brazil, 25% by Mexico, and 13% by Argentina.
• With the ongoing demand for an affordable and cleaner form of electricity in the region, Brazil is implementing few onshore wind turbine projects, that includes the 565.5 megawatts Paraiba wind farm complex in Santa Luzia. It is expected to be the biggest onshore wind project in entire Latin America. The project includes 18 wind farms, of which three are already operating, and fifteen are under construction. Construction of the new farms is expected to get completed by January 2023.
• Apart from Brazil, Chile is planning to increase its onshore wind energy capacity. Horizonte project in Chile is another prominent project in the region, which is expected to have a potential of around 980 megawatts and is expected to generate 2000 gigawatts hour (GWh) of electricity in the near future.
• Argentina, Peru, and Columbia are a few other potential wind energy countries in the region. Proper grid connections, policy framework, and investment in these countries are expected to boost the wind energy market in the countries and in the region.

Brazil Likely to Dominate the Market

• Brazil is the dominating country in the region that has the highest installed capacity. As of December 2018, the country had a total installed wind capacity of 14,707 MW, added approximately 1,939 MW of wind power capacity in 2018. And, out of 14,707 MW, 98% are in operation and rest 2% are in the testing phase.
• About 75 new wind farms were built in 2018, totaling 1.94 MW, in the states of Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí, Ceará, and Maranhão. With the additional 1.94 GW, wind power accounts for 9% of the nation’s power matrix. By the end of 2018, there were a total of 583 wind power plants in Brazil.
• In 2017, wind-generated electricity accounted for 7.44% of the country’s total electricity consumption. This share increased to 9%, by the end of 2018. In 2017, wind power supplied more than 60% of the electricity demand in the Northeastern region. In 2018, wind energy was the third-largest source of the electricity matrix, with around 9% of participation.
• As per the Brazilian Wind Energy Association (Abeeólica), the country is expected to have nearly 18.8 GW of installed wind capacity by 2024, considering 186 new wind farms that are scheduled to come online by the mentioned year. In addition to this, the government’s ten-year energy development plan forecast the country to reach 28.5 GW of wind capacity, by 2026. Thus, commissioning of these projects is expected to help Brazil to dominate the market in the near future.

Competitive Landscape

The Latin America wind turbine market is partially fragmented. The key players in the market include Iberdrola SA, Colbun SA, Enel SpA, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, Latin America Power S.A. (LAP), and Acciona SA among others.

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