According to the World Wind Energy Association, we've amassed enough wind-turbine capacity to cover more than 6% of global electricity demand.

And research from Facts and Factors projects the offshore wind energy market to grow from $36 billion last year to $86.5 billion by 2026. That's more than enough reason to celebrate 2020 American Wind Week. (Aug. 9-15)

Growth projections like these speak to the urgent societal need for renewable energy and the technical and financial viability of current wind energy technology.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the cost of wind energy has dropped 70% since 2009. At the same time, more and more major corporations are setting targets for zero-carbon emissions. As a result, many of these companies are turning to wind to help power their businesses. Today, AWEA reports, corporate customers purchase 10% of operating U.S. wind capacity.

Wind and its renewable energy counterpart, solar, have grown to become significant parts of the portfolio for The Timken Co. Timken has been in the wind business for less than two decades, but the renewable energy source has quickly become one of our leading growth drivers. During the first half of this year, wind and solar accounted for nearly 12% of our global sales.

That's good news for our business and the many other companies who feed into the wind industry. Timken supplies components to nearly every wind turbine and gearbox manufacturer in the world.

While we're an ingredient brand, we've had significant influence on the wind-turbine industry over the last two decades. Drawing on our deep engineering knowledge, we've helped turbine manufacturers rethink their designs to generate greater capacity.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, a single offshore wind turbine today has more capacity than the first two offshore wind parks did combined.

I'm proud to be a part of the ecosystem helping to create a more responsible way to generate one of the world's most valuable commodities – electricity.

As published in the Canton Repository.

Doug Lucas is an advanced engineering technologist The Timken Company in North Canton.