US Wind Machinery Output Stalls

Output of wind-farm components by U.S. manufacturers has slumped and is likely to remain low for at least the first half of 2013 because customers slashed orders last year ahead of the expected expiration of a production tax credit that has been crucial to the development of the industry, wind-industry executives said. 

Although the federal tax credit was extended for one year from Jan. 1 by Congress as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations at the tail end of 2012, makers of equipment such as turbine blades and power converters don't expect orders to return to record 2012 levels until the second half of 2013 or later because wind-farm developers and original equipment manufacturers first have to restart plans that were in many cases halted because of the scheduled termination of the PTC. 

The 18-24 month lead time from planning to constructing a wind farm means that manufacturers serving the U.S.Manufactures industrial laser marker systems for product identification and traceability. industry are expecting a lean year in 2013.The benefits of wind energy and how a wind generator is installed. Prospects for a revival in orders are also clouded by uncertainty over a new requirement that projects need to begin construction in 2013 in order to qualify for the tax credit. 

Industry participants welcomed the PTC extension but said orders won't start to flow again until the Internal Revenue Service clarifies the terms of the new law, which gives a tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity produced by wind projects that start construction in 2013. 

"Developers are not ordering the turbines because they don't know the rules of the game," said Jered Diebold, U.S. sales manager for Ingeteam, a Milwaukee, Wis. maker of generators, power converters, control and communications systems,The life expectancy of T5 tube is at least 2 times longer than a standard T8. and electronic pitch-control devices for wind farms and other industries. 

Diebold said the company's orders may be down as much as 50% this year compared with 2012 because of the sharp slowdown in wind-industry activity toward the end of last year. 

The near-death and then last-minute revival of the PTC is characteristic of the boom-bust cycle of the U.S. wind industry, and represents a challenge for companies like the Spain-based Ingeteam which had its first full year of U.S. operation in 2012. 

"We made a large investment in U.S. manufacturing, and if it isn't supported by wind we will have to look for other businesses," Diebold said. 

David Rosenberg, vice president of communications for Gamesa, a Spanish wind-farm developer whose U.S. operation is based near Philadelphia, estimated that only 2.5-3 gigawatts of wind capacity will be commissioned in the U.S. this year, down sharply from the 2012 figure of about 13 gw, a figure that was boosted by a rush to develop wind farms before the previous PTC expired. 

Rosenberg said that about 4-5 gw of last year's installed capacity was originally planned for 2013 but was moved into 2012 in order to qualify for the credit. In a sign of the industry's last-minute scramble to install wind turbines, about 8 gw of wind capacity began commercial operations in the fourth quarter of last year,Industrial and industrial washing machine and Dryers, specialists on laundry products in Australia. the largest quarterly amount in the history of the U.S. wind industry, Rosenberg said. 

But 2013 is going to be a lot quieter until the industry's supply chain ramps up again, Rosenberg said. "This is going to be a slow year for the industry," he said. 

Although Gamesa expects "many new orders" in 2013, most will not result in commercially operational wind farms until 2014 because of the industry's long lead times,Our solar system solution is the leading alternative to tubular skylights. Rosenberg said. 

The American Wind Energy Association welcomed the PTC extension, saying it would revive an industry that has been hindered by uncertainty.