Business group Advanced Energy Economy announced that total revenue for global advanced energy was a record $1.4 trillion in 2015, making the industry twice as big as the airline industry, bigger than apparel or fashion markets, and approaching worldwide spending on media and entertainment.
The U.S. advanced energy market hit $200 billion, nearly double the nation’s beer market, larger than pharmaceutical manufacturing, and closing in on wholesale consumer electronics.
In 2015, advanced energy revenue grew 8% worldwide over 2014, more than three times the rate of the global economy overall. U.S. advanced energy revenue grew 1% over 2014.
Growth in the U.S. advanced energy market was impacted by persistent low oil prices in 2015. Ethanol pricing is highly correlated with oil prices. So, while production increased slightly, from 14.3 to 14.7 billion gallons as the federal Renewable Fuel Standard was fulfilled, ethanol revenue dropped 33%, from $40.9 billion to $27.3 billion.
Without counting ethanol, the U.S. advanced energy market grew at a 10% rate in 2015, or four times the growth of U.S. GDP.
These findings, along with details by market segment, are found in the annual Advanced Energy Now 2016 Market Report produced by Navigant Research for AEE. The 2016 edition includes global and U.S. revenue for the industry annually from 2011 to 2015, showing powerful growth over the five-year period.
“Advanced energy has made stunning progress over the past five years, reaching new heights both globally and in the U.S.,” said Graham Richard, CEO of AEE. “This vital industry is making the energy we use more secure, clean, and affordable, while creating economic growth. AEE and its business members are committed to accelerating this progress by working with state and federal policymakers, as well as the customers who are demanding advanced energy options.”
The report shows that 2015 global advanced energy revenue was 17% higher than 2011. The U.S. advanced energy market grew 29% since 2011.
Specific U.S. market findings were:
- Building Efficiency led all segments for the second year in a row. It represented 30% of total U.S. advanced energy revenue in 2015, and reached $63.6 billion — up nearly 11% over 2014 and 50% over 2011. This industry segment accounts for improved building envelope, appliance and electronics, and lighting as well as managing energy use with demand response and enabling information technologies.
- Electricity Generation was the second largest advanced energy segment, at $52.3 billion in 2015, and also experienced the second largest year-on-year growth, at 18%.
- Solar Photovoltaics was up 21%, to $22.6 billion. Revenue from solar PV nearly tripled since 2011.
- Wind was up 75%, reaching revenue of $8.2 billion.
- Gas turbine revenue was up 14% to $10.5 billion, in 2015.
- Electricity Delivery and Management experienced the largest year-over-year growth, 24%, reaching $18.2 billion in 2015, led by Transmission investments.
- Fuel Delivery went down by 31%, transportation was down 9%, and fuel production was down 28%, primarily due to lower prices for ethanol, which track gasoline prices. Sales of hybrid vehicles were also impacted by low gasoline prices, while revenue from Plug-in Electric Vehicles still continued to grow, reaching $4.9 billion in 2015 – seven times 2011 revenue for PEVs.
“Energy storage installations more than doubled in the U.S. last year and the sector is poised to hit 10 GW by 2020 globally,” said Kiran Kumaraswamy, Market Development Director, AES Storage. “We expect that energy storage will grow faster than renewable generation as it can act as an alternative for not only peaking generation but also for traditional transmission and distribution investments.”
“Our company is experiencing first-hand the growth trajectory described in this report, and these results drive home the point that wind and advanced energy are cost-effective solutions that makes business sense,” added Chris Brown, President, Vestas Americas. “We are seeing more markets opening up as wind offers competitive pricing and the opportunity to diversify our energy portfolio.”
Advanced Energy Economy
www.aee.net
Navigant Research
www.navigantresearch.com
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