The Wind Energy Industry: Interplay between the Participants

In order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming, France has set itself the objective, within the framework of a European directive, of sourcing 21% of its electricity needs from renewable energies by 2010. Among the various renewable energies, wind energy has a significant part to play, since France has the second highest wind resource potential in Europe, after the UK.
Denis Florin and Florian Temime offer an account here of the wind energy industry and the various players within it. After a brief analysis of the world market for wind power, characterized by rising demand and by a supply that is currently in a phase of consolidation, they examine three groups of players in this sector – industrialists tempted by vertical integration, electricity producers and oil companies – and set out their respective strategies and future outlooks with regard to wind energy.