Global wind day: the U.S. manufacturing challenge

The U.S. wind industry has cause to celebrate today as “global wind day,” but U.S.-based suppliers to this growing industry still have a long way to go. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)–the group that organized global wind day–the U.S. wind industry’s generating capacity grew by 50 percent during 2008.

This growth in installations helped accelerate the growth of U.S.-based manufacturing of wind energy components, notes the GWEC in its 2008 report (see U.S. statistics starting on page 56). As a result, notes the report, about 50 percent of turbine components are made in the U.S. today. But at the risk of sounding the pessimist, this means that half of all components for the U.S. wind market come from other countries.

We can do better than that.

In looking around the Internet, I see that plenty of organizations seem to have the same notion: U.S. manufacturers can do more to grab a bigger share of the U.S. wind industry. For the example, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation offers a Web site that promotes wind industry growth in Michigan. The MDEC site offers examples of Michigan companies with success in the wind industry.

Another organization that promotes U.S. wind industry growth is the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). An AWEA event slated for Detroit in early November has a supply chain focus, and will actively try to get more manufacturers educated about opportunities in the wind industry supply chain, says Shawna Seldon, an AWEA spokesperson.

I’ve yet to see a business-to-business e-marketplace focused on wind equipment, but e-marketplaces are another avenue U.S.-based manufacturers could explore for edging into the wind industry. I recently spoke with Mitch Free, CEO and founder of MFG.com, an e-marketplace for sourcing and selling many types of components, fabrication services, machining services, and other materials. Free says more companies are using MFG.com to source parts for renewable energy gear, though much of the activity is in its early stages.

“We have folks sourcing all sorts of alternative energy devices,” says Free. “There is a lot of research activity going on, but I wouldn’t say there is a lot of production orders [on the marketplace] yet. But there are companies doing R&D and having parts made for prototype and test purposes.”

So U.S. manufacturers still appear to have a long way to go when it comes to exploiting growth industries like wind energy. While there has been great progress and some highly innovative U.S.-based companies involved in wind power, more U.S.-based makers of parts and providers of manufacturing services could get involved. And the growth in wind energy doesn’t have to be around huge, utility-grade turbines. The growth rate for the small turbine market in the U.S. is quite high (78 percent last year), according to AWEA. For a neat example of a relatively smaller wind turbine installation, check out this picture  from AeroVironment of their turbines recently installed an office building at Boston Logan airport.

So wind power isn’t just about the sprawling turbine farms you see out on the prairies. There are all sorts of innovation and opportunities going on in the wind industry. The question becomes whether the lion’s share of those opportunities will end up with U.S.-based manufacturers, or with manufacturers from Europe, China, or elsewhere.