Global wind turbine orders in H1 hit 91.2 GW, up 23% year-on-year

H1 outpaces H2 2023 by 11 GW of wind power, China boosts demand as Western OEMs struggle to compete.

Global wind turbine order intake reached new highs in H1, with 91.2 gigawatts (GW) of activity, a 23 percent increase year-over-year (YOY), according to a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie. Globally, investment by developers in H1 totaled US$ 42 billion, a 3% increase YOY.

Much of this increase was due to order intake in Q2, which exceeded 66 GW due in large part to demand in China’s northern region. According to the report, in addition to 70 GW of orders for its domestic market, China also captured 5 GW of orders abroad.

Developers in India made great strides in H1 as well, yielding a 69% increase YOY. In total, APAC accounted for 85% of global intake in H1.

However, in contrast to the strong performance of OEMs in the APAC region, Western OEMs struggled due to intensifying competition over more modest demand and contributed just 13% of global order intake in H1. In total, order intake outside of China decreased 16% (-2.3 GW) in H1. Intake in the Americas and Europe dropped 42% YoY with less than 10 GW combined ordered in H1.

“Chinese OEMs continue to break records for order intake on activity both domestically and aboard,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie. “Conversely, western OEMs are struggling to keep pace, challenged by China’s competitive advantages in pricing and availability. Soft demand in Western markets as well as policy uncertainty, inflation, and other cost pressures have also driven down activity in the US and Europe. China remains the undisputed leader in the industry.”

While global onshore order activity increased in H1, the offshore sector struggled, with order intake decreasing 38% YOY through H1 (-4.1 GW) as challenging project economics have hindered the market.

“The offshore market has almost 30 GW of conditional orders globally, 21 GW of which are for projects in Europe and the US, but challenging economics continue to delay conversion into firm orders,” said Lewandowski.”

For H1, Envision was the leader for overall order intake, followed by Windey and Goldwind, all with more than 12 GW of activity.