InterviewDow epoxy unit sets sail in wind power

08 April 2008 22:15  [Source: ICIS news]

By David Barry

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Dow’s launch of special-purpose epoxy resins for wind turbine blades comes at a time of rapid growth for this renewable energy segment, a company official said on Tuesday.

“Within the next five years, we expect growth of at least 20% per year. After 2012, some people anticipate lower rates, others think 20% growth will be maintained,” said Jean Luc Guillaume, global market manager for wind energy solutions with Dow’s epoxy systems business.

Beyond the five-year horizon, the forecast for wind energy becomes murkier because the direction of public policy is uncertain, he said.

Capturing the growth of the wind energy market has become a priority for companies such as Dow, which supply the resins used to manufacture turbine blades to harvest energy at wind farms.

To strengthen its entry into the wind turbine blade sector with technology and know-how, in 2007 Dow’s epoxy business acquired German formulator UPPC.

“Right now this market is going through a phase of maturation. The market is moving toward global [wind turbine manufacturers] who are in demand for a global service and that’s where Dow excels, producing consistent product and shipping reliably across the market,” Guillaume said.

Epoxy resins are used for about 75% of wind blades currently produced, while polyester resins account for the remaining 25%. A standard 1.5-megawatt wind turbine has approximately 10 tonnes of epoxy in its blades.

Roughly calculated, about 100,000 tonnes of epoxy resin went into the 20,000 megawatts of wind energy capacity installed globally in 2007, Guillaume said. Epoxy resin consumption for wind turbine blades is expected to match, if not exceed, the lofty growth expectations for wind energy, he said.

“All blade manufacturing technologies will grow, whether it’s polyester infusion, epoxy infusion or epoxy prepreg,” Guillaume said, adding that epoxy infusion products, such as Dow’s Airstone line, would likely grow the fastest. “We’re aware of blade manufacturers working with polyesters moving toward epoxy-based blades. But we aren’t aware of epoxy blade manufacturers moving toward polyesters,” he said.

Guillaume said the wind energy industry was growing fastest in India, China and the US, moving the blade manufacturing industry from its birthplace in Europe to other regions.

“The market in the US seems to be a little calmer, where it’s more the global players trying to gain market share. In China and India, all the big players are gaining market share and installing manufacturing sites, but you also have the strong emergence of local players,” Guillaume said.

As for Dow’s growth plans, it will start by producing epoxy blends at existing manufacturing sites in Europe and the US and will consider additional supply sources and production facilities as demand warrants. Guillaume said existing blending capacity is adequate.

“We will be even better equipped to meet demand in the future with Dow Epoxy’s plans to add new capacity in China within the next two to three years,” Guillaume said. The company opened a technical support office in China six months ago and has a team in place in India as well.

Major wind turbine blade manufacturers include Vestas, GE Wind, Gamesa, Inercon, Suzlon, and Siemens Wind.

Major epoxy resin manufacturers include Dow, Huntsman, Hexion and Nan Ya.

($1 = €0.64)

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By: David Barry
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