# Onshore wind: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/correlation/ Onshore wind costs are set by turbine prices, which follow steel, copper, resin and magnet costs, plus foundations, grid links, land and finance. Power is sold through auctions or long contracts, so fuel prices matter less than build costs. Proxy **US PPI: turbines and turbine generator sets** index (BLS base period =100) · monthly, Jun 2011 to Sep 2026 There is no free public price for onshore wind itself, so this tab uses the closest public series as a stand-in. Read the numbers as an indication, not as the price of this exact item. #### What its price moves with Selected link ##### Onshore wind and Steel Monthly changes 0.05 little or none correlation 12-month changes -0.01 little or none correlation Last 5 years 0.17 monthly changes Lead or lag −1 mo Onshore wind tends to lead by 1 month (r 0.14) Price function, Jun 2011 to Sep 2026 Onshore wind ≈ 26.3 × (Steel)^0.26 R² 0.54 On this fit, a 10% higher steel price goes with a 2.5% higher onshore wind price over the long run. Units: index (BLS base period =100) and index, BLS base period. Chart: Onshore wind and Steel prices rebased to 100 at Jun 2011, log scale Both prices rebased to 100 at Jun 2011, on a log scale so equal percentage moves look the same size. Chart: Onshore wind price against Steel price, monthly, log scales, with fitted line Each dot is one month; paler dots are older (2011), darker dots recent (2026); the ringed dot is the latest month. The dashed line is the fitted price function. Both axes are logarithmic. Commodity [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)Main input 0.05 Towers and nacelles are mostly steel, so steel prices feed into turbine costs. The proxy, a US turbine index, does not track steel month to month (0.05) because turbines are sold on long contracts with prices fixed well before delivery. little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show charts Commodity [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)Main input −0.04 Generators, internal cables and the grid connection use copper. As with steel, turbine contracts fix prices ahead, so the US turbine index shows no monthly link with copper, correlating at -0.04. little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show charts Commodity [REE Rare earths](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/)Magnet input Direct-drive and many large turbines use neodymium magnets in their generators. China dominates supply, so magnet prices and export rules are a cost and supply risk for turbine makers. Gearbox designs use less. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [EPX Epoxy resins](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/epoxy/)Blade input 0.09 Blades are made from glass or carbon fibre set in epoxy resin, and resin is a large part of blade cost. The US indices barely move together, with monthly changes correlating at 0.09, since blade makers buy on contracts. little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show charts Energy [CCGT Gas turbines and combined cycle](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_gas_turbines/)Shared industry 0.68 Wind and gas turbines are made by overlapping US makers and the two price indices overlap in coverage. They share a common manufacturing cycle rather than a cost link: monthly moves correlate at 0.68 and yearly moves at 0.53. moderate co-movement month to month · 169 months Show charts Energy [Gas Natural gas](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/natural_gas/)Rival source −0.05 Wind competes with gas plants, and high gas prices raise the value of wind power in markets where gas sets the price. Turbine prices do not follow gas, with monthly moves correlating at -0.05. little or none co-movement month to month · 184 months Show charts How to read these numbers **Correlation of monthly changes** (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak. **12-month changes** compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs. **Price function** is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)^β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation. **Lead or lag** checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months. Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link. Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site. ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/overview/index.md) - [Efficiency](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/efficiency/index.md) - [Techniques](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/techniques/index.md) - [Resources and labour](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/resources/index.md) - [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/biosphere/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/links/index.md)