In the distributed generation (DG) industry, most of the fuel cell and microturbine companies reported disappointing results for 2003, as they failed to ship expected unit quantities of their products. Wind turbine and photovoltaic companies, however, experienced extraordinary sales and are expected to translate these sales into solid market share gains on the competition, finds ABI Research.
“Fuel cells and microturbines have unfortunately not lived up to industry expectations,” explains Atakan Ozbek, ABI Research’s Director of Energy Research. “Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on R&D, the relatively quiet power generation markets and the technological uncertainty of fuel cells and microturbines were two major reasons for the poor performance of these two energy technologies over the past two years.”
While the near-term DG markets are still uncertain, the long-term distributed generation market potential appears enthusiastic. Global installed DG capacity is projected to nearly triple to 200,000 MW by 2011, according to ABI Research. Companies such as Vestas, NEG Micon, GE Wind Energy, and Sanyo have been benefiting tremendously from strong government incentives across the globe, starting with Japan, the EU and followed by the United States.
The ABI Research study, “Distributed Generation: Growth Projections for Fuel Cells, Photovoltaics, Wind Turbines, Reciprocating Engines, and Small Gas Turbines,” evaluates major distributed generation technologies and gives annual shipments by technology and major region. Discussions of the current regulatory environment, tax practices, environmental issues, and business considerations affecting the present and future uptake of DG technologies are provided.
For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.