The Emerging Electrical Markets for Copper



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The Impact on Copper

Taking into account the technical trends described in Section 3.3.2 and the market trends described in Section 3.3.3, we present our forecasts of copper use in wind power generation by component type in Figure 58 and by fabricated product in Figure 59.


The figures indicate that wind power generation is already an established market, consuming an estimated 40 kt of copper in Europe in 2010, and 104 kt globally. Over the next ten years, the size of the market globally is expected to treble, with the European market doubling in size and other world regions, especially China, growing faster.

Figure 58: Wind Power Market for Copper by Component Sector (kt Cu)





Figure 59: Wind Power Market for Copper by Fabricated Product (kt Cu)

While overall the wind energy sector does not meet the criteria that we use to define an emerging market, certain component groups with it do. Power electronics in wind power for example, a major part of our “Other Equipment” classification, could be said to be an emerging market. We see this growing from 3.6 kt in 2010 to 11.7 kt in 2020. Similarly, finer definition of other component groups may lead to the finding of other “emerging” elements, currently small but set to become significant.


The discussion above shows that there are important segment divisions within the wind power market. The most important is between offshore and onshore. Offshore installation, as yet, is a comparatively small market, probably accounting for little more than 10% of installation globally (more in Europe). This is by far the largest segment, so could be an important area of focus for the promotion of copper.
The offshore market is different in nature from the onshore market. The wind towers and larger and more rugged, while long lengths of technically demanding subsea power cable is required. Some of the early offshore installations were found not to be well enough protected from the harsh environment, and corrosion has been noted. An awareness of this could lead to better corrosion protection in coming years, this being a potential market for copper nickel cladding of the towers. This possibility has not been included in our forecasts.



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