China turbine makers winded after Ecuador lockdown leaves them without blades
- Ecuador supplies 95 per cent of the world’s commercial balsa wood, which is known for its strength and light weight
- Wood Mackenzie slashes installation forecast for China by 3GW to 26GW, little changed from 2019
Travel restrictions and the lockdown have also delivered another kind of headache to industry players in mainland China, as the shortage has led prices for the wood to more than double from a year ago, according to Wood Mackenzie, a London-based resources and energy consultancy.
Ecuador supplies 95 per cent of the world’s commercial balsa wood, which is known for its strength and light weight. The shift towards substitutes such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been slow relative to markets in Europe.
“Turbine and wind blade manufacturers are working in tandem to replace or reduce balsa and polyvinyl chloride as core materials and switch to PET,” said Shashi Barla, who focuses on wind power supply chain research at Wood Mackenzie.
“Most of the turbine models from western makers like Vestas and GE integrate PET in their blades,” he added. “However, PET adoption in China is very slow due to high demand and time constraints to redesign blades on a short notice.”
Global balsa consumption by the wind turbine manufacturers is expected to fall by 12 per cent to 214,000 cubic metres by 2023 from last year, Wood Mackenzie said. Demand for PET is projected to double to 332,000 cubic metres over the same period.