Navigant Report: Advanced Energy Industry Grew Twice As Fast As The World Economy In 2013

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Posted by Heidi Schwartz

At $1.1 trillion in estimated global revenue, advanced energy grew at a rate more than double the global economy last year, according to a market report commissioned by Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) and conducted by Navigant Research. In the United States, the advanced energy market excluding wind energy experienced double-digit growth the last two years – outpacing the economy by a factor of four – while wind energy saw a boom and bust in that two-year period due to inconsistent federal policy.

The Advanced Energy Now 2014 Market Report found that advanced energy in the United States was a $169 billion market in 2013. Excluding the wind industry, which experienced a drop due to uncertainty regarding the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC), U.S. advanced energy revenue grew 18 percent in 2012 and 14 percent in 2013. Revenue from wind installations jumped from $13 billion in 2011 to $25 billion in 2012, then plunged to $2 billion in 2013. Overall, U.S. advanced energy revenue in 2013 was 27 percent higher than 2011 and down 2 percent from 2012.

“Advanced energy is a vibrant industry and a vital part of America’s economic future. That’s what this report shows,” said Graham Richard, CEO of the Advanced Energy Economy. “Advanced energy companies are delivering technologies, products, and services across our country and around the world.”

In the United States, the advanced energy market grew strongly from 2011 to 2013 with the exception of wind. Excluding wind, the U.S. advanced energy industry grew 14 percent from 2012 to 2013, over four times the rate of the economy overall, with dramatic gains in Solar, Transportation (advanced vehicles), and Building energy. At $168.9 billion, the U.S. share of the $1.1 trillion global advanced energy market was 15 percent in 2013, up from 11 percent in 2011. The exception was wind energy, which had a severe, $23 billion revenue plunge after a banner year in 2012, due to uncertainty around the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC).

The most dramatic growth came in the Transportation segment, where revenue from advanced vehicles more than doubled over the two-year period. Hybrid vehicles led the way in revenue, rising from $7.2 billion in 2011 to $14 billion in 2013. The fastest growth came in plug-in electric vehicles (from $707 million in 2011 to $3.6 billion in 2013) and natural gas trucks and buses ($102 million to $530 million in that two-year span).

Navigant Advanced Energy
Advanced energy consists of seven broad industry segments and 41 subsegments, each of which contains multiple product categories. The segments and subsegments of advanced energy are enumerated in the figure above.

The United States has become a major market for solar energy, as solar photovoltaic revenue grew steadily over this two-year period, up 27 percent in 2012 and 54 percent from in 2013. Two-year growth, from $8.2 billion to $16.2 billion, was 97 percent.

Globally, the Electricity Generation segment grew by nearly 6 percent driven by hydro, solar, and biomass. Revenue from advanced vehicles (led by clean diesel autos in Europe) allowed Transportation to bounce back (up 6 percent) in 2013 from a slight dip (down 3 percent) in 2012, driven by strong growth in hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Steady growth occurred worldwide over the past two years in advanced Fuel Production (up 34 percent from 2011 to 2013), led by ethanol, compressed and liquefied natural gas for transportation, and bio-oils associated with development of non-food-crop-based biofuels. The Buildings segment showed similar two-year growth (up 27 percent), led by advanced lighting. Significant growth in revenue from industrial applications of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) accounted for much of the 26 percent growth in the Industry segment from 2011 to 2013.

The United States remains a world leader (34 percent of global revenue) in the production of advanced fuels, principally in biofuels and synthetic diesel and gasoline, as revenue in fuel production grew steadily, up 17 percent from 2011 to 2013. Revenue from advanced building products and technologies increased 11 percent in 2012 and 12 percent in 2013, for two-year growth of 24 percent.

The full Advanced Energy Now 2014 Market Report is available here.