Staff Writer
At nearly $1.3 trillion in estimated global revenue for 2014, the market for advanced energy products and services is as large as the apparel and fashion industry and almost four times the size of the semiconductor industry worldwide, according to a report produced by Navigant Research for Advanced Energy Economy (AEE). In the United States alone, advanced energy market revenue grew 14 percent last year — five times the rate of the US economy overall — to just under $200 billion.
Other key findings include the following:
- Global revenue for advanced energy products and services grew 12 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, making 2014 the biggest growth year worldwide since AEE began tracking these markets in 2011.
- US advanced energy revenue has grown 38 percent from 2011 to 2014. US advanced energy represents 15 percent of the world market.
- Building efficiency is now the largest segment of the US advanced energy market, with revenue of $60.1 billion in 2014. Building efficiency revenue has grown 43 percent in the last four years.
- After a severe downturn in wind energy due to uncertainty over the federal production tax credit (PTC), in 2013, wind bounced back in 2014, to $8.2 billion, nearly four times 2013 revenue.
- Including wind, the electricity generation segment of advanced energy grew 47 percent overall in the US, to $45.8 billion in 2014.
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) revenue was up 39 percent, to $22.5 billion, capping four-year growth of 173 percent.
- US revenue for hybrid vehicles was down 19 percent but up 34 percent for plug-in electric vehicles, while natural gas-powered vehicles jumped 26 percent. Revenue from electric vehicle charging stations was up 31 percent in the US, to $201.5 million, up seven-fold from 2011.
Advanced Energy Now 2015 Market Report is the third annual report of market size, by revenue, of the advanced energy industry, worldwide and in the United States.