Dipak Haria, Associate Director of Infrastructure and Project Finance at Barclays Corporate, told a Wind Prospect conference in London yesterday that turbine manufacturers such as Chinese firm Sinovel were keen to enter the European and North American markets, challenging existing suppliers. "Developers will therefore have to be flexible and evaluate historic availability, reliability and warranties," he said."
Haria added that other new players were poised to enter the market as operations and maintenance businesses as an alternative to turbine manufacturers.
"As well as warranties from new players, operations and maintenance contracts, lifecycle, refit and overhaul arrangements must also be examined carefully."
Investor confidence in procurement and the construction phase of wind-farm development was vital, said Haria. "We need to entice institutional investment into the wind-energy sector," he said.
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