Developers commissioned 45 GW of onshore wind turbines in 2018

The latest data from BloombergNEF (BNEF) show that Vestas extended its lead in the wind power industry, with 10.1 GW of its onshore wind turbines commissioned in 2018, a market share of 22% compared with 16% in 2017. The statistics draw on BNEF’s global database of wind farm projects and extensive information from the industry.

 

Developers commissioned 45 GW of onshore wind turbines in 2018 compared with 47 GW a year earlier. Just four manufacturers accounted for more than half, or 57%, of the wind turbines deployed: Denmark’s Vestas, China’s Goldwind, GE Renewable Energy of the U.S. and Spain’s Siemens Gamesa.

China’s Goldwind rose from third to second place, lifted by a strong performance in China, where it captured a third of the 19.3 GW market. The company’s global footprint, however, remains limited: only 5% of Goldwind’s 6.7 GW were commissioned outside China. GE came third with 5 GW – six out of every ten GE wind turbines were commissioned in the U.S. Both GE and Vestas commissioned just over 3 GW in the U.S., with Vestas leading by 44 MW in the neck-to-neck race for U.S. wind power market leadership.

Chinese manufacturers rely almost solely on their home wind farm market,” said Tom Harries, senior wind energy analyst at BNEF and lead author of the BNEF report Global Wind Turbine Market Shares. “Of the European onshore wind turbine makers to make the top 10, Vestas and Nordex actually commissioned more capacity in the Americas than in Europe. Most of Enercon’s wind turbines are in Europe. Siemens Gamesa is the most diversified, with a near equal split across Europe, the Americas and Asia.” “In offshore wind farm, it’s been a record year for China, and we will see more growth. Some 1.7 GW of the global 4.3 GW was commissioned there. In Europe it was a tight race between Siemens Gamesa and MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. GE has some wind farm projects coming up in France, and we also expect to see orders for their new 12-MW platform.”

Total onshore wind farm installations in 2018 were 11.7 GW in the Americas, 8.5 GW in Europe and 1 GW in Africa and the Middle East, while Asia accounted for 24.2 GW. BNEF registered new wind farms starting full commercial operation in 53 countries.

“Last year was a bit of a mixed picture in terms of global onshore wind farm installations, with only 45.4 GW commissioned. Still, add to that 4.3 GW offshore wind power and 2018 ended slightly lower than 2017,” said David Hostert, head of wind research at BNEF. “Now it is time for the manufacturers to buckle up for two stormy years ahead: we predict demand for around 60 GW of onshore wind energy capacity in both 2019 and 2020 with increases in all regions. However, a lot of this impressive-sounding volume rides on extremely competitive pricing, add-on products and services, and new financing models. This will be tough to deliver for the Big Four, let alone the smaller turbine makers.”

Siemens Gamesa, formed in 2016 from a merger of the wind farm business of German Siemens and the Spanish Gamesa, dropped from second to fourth place, with 4.1 GW commissioned in 2018. This is 40% less than in 2017, although the tally does not include a number of very large wind farms that are only partially built and will not come online until 2019.

 

https://www.evwind.es/2019/02/14/vestas-gains-wind-energy-lead-as-top-wind-turbines-manufacturer/66137

 

https://www.evwind.com/2019/02/14/vestas-lidera-la-energia-eolica-como-fabricante-de-aerogeneradores-en-2018/