WIND TURBINE BLADE INSPECTION SERVICES MARKET ANALYSIS

The global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services market size was valued at US$ 5,470.0 million in 2022 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% from 2023 to 2030.  Since it is significant for wind homesteads to broaden the existence of wind turbine sharp edges and different parts, it is important to examine sharp edges all the more completely to increment energy efficiency and cut costs related with substitution or fix. These inspection services include NDT, robotics inspection, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sensors or advanced imaging, and artificial intelligence. A breeze turbine can live longer thanks to these services. Regular inspection can also increase the capacity of older turbines by reducing dynamic and aerodynamic imbalance and edge erosion.  

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market: Regional Insights

North America is expected to witness significant growth due to high demand for electricity from wind energy in the region. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the total annual U.S. electricity generation from wind energy increased from about 6 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2000 to about 338 billion kWh in 2020. In 2020, wind turbines were the source of about 8.4% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, the total annual U.S. electricity generation from wind energy increased from about 6 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2000 to about 380 billion kWh in 2021. In 2021, wind turbines were the source of about 9.2% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. Utility scale includes facilities with at least one megawatt (1,000 kilowatts) of electricity generation capacity.

Figure 1. Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Share (%), By Region, 2022

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Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Drivers:

Government adopting renewable source of energy, creating awareness of job in market

Governments U.S. and Canada adopting renewable source of energy, in order to reduce carbon footprint. This is expected to be major factor for increasing demand for wind turbines. Increasing industrialization has led to high demand for electricity, which inadvertently had led to rising greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), emissions in the atmosphere.

Creating awareness of job in market

Wind power is an important driver of jobs and investment in the U.S., and a crucial pillar of the Biden administration’s plan to Build Back Better. Currently, wind power supports over 120,000 jobs and has brought in over US$ 65 billion over the past five years in the U.S. These socioeconomic benefits will be amplified once the U.S. offshore wind market takes off, which could generate an additional US$ 166 billion in new investment by 2022 and support 80,000 jobs annually by 2035.

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Opportunities:

Increasing Turbine Height and Diameter

Increasing the height and diameter of the wind turbine is expected to aid in wind power generation at offshore. Increase in turbine height aids in increasing energy generation by 3.52% and 6.28% for 80 m to 100 m, and for 80 m to 120 m hub heights, respectively. For instance, Vestas has enhanced the capacity of its V164 wind turbine from 7MW to 8MW by increasing its diameter of 164 m or 538 ft. Moreover, EDF Energy built wind turbines as high as 492 ft, in order to boost energy generation by 37%. Thus, increasing height and diameter of wind turbine is proportional to increasing electricity generation. Therefore, increasing demand for electricity is expected to increase demand for larger and higher wind turbines. However, these larger wind turbines include glass fiber-reinforced polyester blades that weigh about 9,000 kg each. Increasing weight and height of turbines proportionally increase the probability of edge erosion, damage from lightning and dynamic and aerodynamic imbalance among others, which further increases demand for regular inspection services.

Growing adoption of IOT solutions

Adoption of IoT solution for wind turbine inspection is increasing as it helps wind-farm operators to avoid the high maintenance cost and down time, increase turbine reliability, minimize downtime, and avoid catastrophic failure. Moreover, the major benefits of IoT includes real-time data analysis, increasing resources optimization, and improvement in operational management. Thus, the benefits of IoT (Internet of Things) data is expected to help in identifying issues related to maintenance in advance. This data is send to the wind turbine operator about the issues of the remote wind turbine, which requires maintenance, in order to avoid costly downtime or damage. Therefore, IoT is expected to help in improving efficiency of inspection and reduce cost of maintenance, as it provides wind turbine operators the real-time data for increasing the performance and reliability. Hence, the use of IoT technology for maintenance of offshore wind system will aid in growth of the market in the forecasted period.

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Trends:

Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning

In the inspection of wind turbine blades, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is growing in popularity. These technologies are able to more accurately analyze inspection data and identify potential issues, lowering the likelihood of human error and making maintenance and repairs more effective.

Increased use of drones

Drones are increasingly being used for wind turbine blade inspections because they offer a safe and cost-effective method for inspecting the blades from a variety of angles and heights. When contrasted with customary review techniques, the utilization of robots can help with bringing down the probability of laborers being harmed and furthermore set aside time and cash.

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Restraints:

Lack of skilled labor for conducting inspection, High Cost of Automated NDT Equipment

Lack of skilled labor is a major challenge for growth of the North America wind turbine inspection blades market. Growing demand for wind turbines will proportionally increase the demand for the inspection of these wind turbines, in order to minimize maintenance cost and increase the life of wind turbine blades. Since the components of wind turbines are very complex, it becomes difficult to identify defects by manual inspection.

High Cost of Automated NDT Equipment

Automated NDT equipment is aiding in replacement of manual equipment. These provide high quality of inspection and deliver high quality of products. The factor negatively affecting demand for automated NDT equipment is its high investment cost. Since, the set-up cost of the NDT automated equipment is very high, the adoption of these products is fairly low by small-scale organizations. Additionally, new technologies are also complex in nature, which in turn increase the cost of training for the company. Therefore, this factor will restraint growth of the market to a certain extent.                  

Figure 2. Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market, By Location

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Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market Segmentation:

The installation cost for onshore wind turbine is relatively cheap, leading to increasing demand for onshore wind turbine. For instance, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency Analysis, in 2016, the upper bound installation cost for onshore wind turbine was US$ 2,000/kW to US$ 101/MWh for wind speed 6m/s, down to US$ 55/MWh when the wind speed is at 9m/s, and for the lower-bound installed cost of US$ 1,200/kW and a wind speed of 6m/s, the generation cost is US$ 59/MWh, falling to US$ 38/MWh at 8m/s. Since, the installation cost of the onshore wind turbines is relatively low, demand for these is rising significantly.

Offshore wind turbine installations generate stronger wind currents as they are placed in the ocean and more power as compared to onshore wind turbines. It also helps in saving natural resources without displacing trees from the land. Furthermore, it produces less noise as compared to onshore wind turbine. These are some of the factors driving the growth of the North America wind turbine blade inspection services market.

Wind is one of the leading sources of renewable energy in the region. Offshore wind energy is gaining significant traction in the renewable energy mix due its advantages over onshore wind energy. Owing to presence of major manufactures such as Vestas, General Electric, and Nordex SE in North America, the segment is expected to exhibit high growth.

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market: Key Developments

In June 2021, Vestas received a 31 MW order to repower an undisclosed wind project in the U.S. The repowering order consists of V110-2.2 MW wind turbines, which will replace the site’s current technology, including previously purchased 2 MW platform components. The project has a total nameplate capacity of 33 MW.

In January 2020, Vestas, received two new turbine orders in North America for supply of wind turbines worth 192 MW. The orders have been received in the US and Mexico.

In January 2022, Mistras Group, announced that the company received a U.S. patent for the technology Sensoria, its innovative 24/7/365 rotor blade monitoring system and sensors that enable blade integrity management for wind turbine owners and operators.

On April 5, 2022, DNV GL, announced the launch of the new SAFE Maritime Autonomous Technology (SAFEMATE) project.

Global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services Market: Key Companies Insights

The global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R&D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis.

Some of the key players in the global Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Services market are Intertek Group Plc, SGS SA, Cenergy International Services, L.L.C., UL International Gmbh, Mistras Group, James Fisher and Sons plc, Global Wind Service, Force Technology, Vestas, and Siemens Wind Power GmbH & Co.KG.

*Definition: A normal inside wind turbine cutting edge examination requires an overseer to enter the edge genuinely. The inspector collects visual information regarding the turbine's blade condition while inside.