Vestas sets a record for wind turbines and dominates onshore wind energy

Vestas became the first manufacturer of wind turbines by installing more than 10 GW of wind power capacity in a single year (2019), according to a new analysis by Wood Mackenzie.

The Danish OEM network-connected capacity of 11.3 GW in 2019 is an increase of 1.5 GW in 2018, with installations completed in more than 35 markets. The company’s facilities in the Americas region contributed more than 50% of capacity for the first time. This was driven by the United States, Mexico, and Argentina.

According to Wood Mackenzie’s research, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy moved up to second place, dominating the 1.9 GW offshore market in the UK and achieving more than 1 GW of onshore installations in the United States and Spain.

General Electric increased its global dominance by connecting projects in 24 markets, with the first turbine facilities in Greece, Oman, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Chile reaching 8.7 GW. This is a 60% increase in 2018.

The Wood Mackenzie report, which determines the market shares of wind turbine manufacturers globally, regionally and nationally, reveals that 2019 was a year of market consolidation.

“The top five wind turbine manufacturers (Vestas, SGRE, GE, Goldwind and Envision) increased their combined market share by 10% from two years ago, capturing 68% of global capacity,” said Shashi Barla, principal analyst Wood Mackenzie.

MingYang increased its market share by almost three percentage points. The company doubled its facilities in China to 4.4 GW, including a record offshore activity of more than 500 MW driven by projects in Guangdong.

China’s top three OEMs, Goldwind, Envision, and MingYang, recorded their highest installations in 2019. This challenged the western big three: Vestas, GE, and SGRE, which also recorded record installations last year.

“Supply restrictions for China’s three major Tier II-enabled Chinese OEMs, such as Windey and CRRC, to make a surprise appearance in the world ranking of the Top 10 and Top 15, respectively, for the first time.”

Although eight Chinese OEMs rank in the top 15 in the world, only 0.6 GW of wind turbine capacity was exported. This illustrates China’s strong dependence on the domestic market.

“The smaller regional players, including Senvion, Suzlon, INOX, XEMC and WEG, lost market share due to difficult market conditions. This resulted in financial difficulties that would jeopardize their future participation in the wind sector, ”said Shashi Barla.

Despite a healthy outlook for the wind turbine supply chain for the next decade, the coronavirus presents short-term hurdles for OEMs.

“Original equipment manufacturers of wind turbines with exposure to global centers of the wind turbine supply chain, including China, India and Spain, will see a negative impact on market share in 2020. This is mainly due to the measures of coronavirus blockages that have clogged manufacturing facilities in these countries, “added Barla.