Navigant Research report evaluates demand for wind-turbine blade materials

The rapid pace of research and development for wind blades, manufacturing processes, and advanced materials is enabling stronger and longer blades, making wind turbines more efficient, increasing turbine annual energy production, and lowering the cost of energy from wind power plants. This is a massive market by total revenue and the sheer volume of material, and it is driven directly by the global wind power forecast.

According to a new report from Navigant Research, the  global demand for key wind blade materials, including reinforcement fiber, resins, core materials, adhesives, paint and coatings, and metal blade studs, providing market forecasts for revenue, through 2026.

“The wind blade materials market is one of the most competitive, dynamic, and strategically important parts of the wind-turbine supply chain,” says Jesse Broehl, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “Many materials suppliers are competing to meet or ideally exceed the demands of the wind-turbine manufacturers and independent blade manufacturers.”

Despite the market competition, high growth in wind blade materials is not expected to occur globally during the next decade, according to the report. The United States and China are in a period of peak installation rates, which places downward pressure on the expected 10-year outlook. Country markets with anticipated higher growth, however, include South Africa and numerous countries in Latin America.

The study focuses on revenue estimates for the following wind blade materials: reinforcement fiber (predominantly fiberglass, carbon fiber, and other advanced stitched and woven fabrics), resins (epoxy and polyester), core materials (balsa wood and a range of polymer foam materials), adhesives, paint and coatings, and metal blade studs. Global market forecasts for revenue, segmented by material, region, and country, extend through 2026.

An Executive Summary of the report is available for download here.