The content of EWEA's 2006 wind conference program was a bit of a downer. The Athens venue was agreeable, the house was packed, plenty of contact-making and deal-doing to be done. But there was a damper on things because a) gearboxes are running excruciatingly short while demand is bursting and b) most of the turbine supplier CEOs didn't show up on the panel (Gamesa, GE, Siemens, Enercon all no-shows).
There's a mixed optimism surrounding the industry with a potential storm brewing because there is no sign of a major component capacity ramp up, but at the same time the US and Asia Pacific markets put up record breaking numbers of MWs in 2005. The worry is that if things aren't corrected now, the industry's ability to deliver will be wounded, and the technology's whole future will be discredited - making it difficult for already decreasing incentives to remain available while costs climb. Then national energy policies will look to roll in more nukes, clean coal, more CCGT. EWEA's marketing message for the conference was No Fuel. But the word on the floor was No Turbines.
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