Report Says 2019 Set Record for Supply Side Wind Turbine Capacity

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A new report says that 22,893 wind turbines were installed globally in 2019, produced from 33 suppliers and accounting for more than 63 GW of capacity, a new supply side record in terms of capacity for the industry. That’s according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) “Supply Side Analysis 2019” report.

The report says Vestas continues to hold on to its place as top supplier in 2019, accounting for 18% of all wind turbines installed in 2019, thanks to its global diversification strategy with installations in more than 40 countries. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy moved up one position to second place, with the supplier doubling its offshore wind installation in 2019 and expanding its geographic coverage. Goldwind fell one position to third place despite the company increasing its annual installations by 19% in 2019, thanks to an installation rush in its home market of China.

Of the top 15 wind turbine suppliers in 2019, 10 installed offshore wind turbines last year, accounting for 99.9% of the record 6.1 GW of offshore wind capacity installed in 2019. Last year was also the first time the industry saw a purely offshore wind supplier — MHI Vestas — break the global top 15, demonstrating the increasingly important role that the offshore industry is playing to drive wind power growth.

GWEC says market consolidation for turbine suppliers globally is continuing, with the number of suppliers declining from 37 in 2018 to 33 in 2019. At the same time, the top six turbine vendors collectively increased their market share from 70% in 2018 to 72% in 2019. The report says that current trends favor companies that shift from being solely manufacturers to evolving into holistic systems and solution providers to allow for greater market diversification.

GE Renewable Energy and Envision remain in the fourth and fifth position respectively for global market share, both showing increases thanks to installation rushes in their home markets of the US and China. Mingyang and Nordex Acciona also benefited from these installation rushes, both moving up one position to sixth and seventh place respectively. Enercon dropped by two positions to eighth place in 2019, primarily due to a significant decline in installations in its home market, Germany.

Windey entered the top 10 for the first time ever as the supplier doubled its installations in China, moving up four positions to ninth place. Rounding out the top 15 wind turbine suppliers in 2019 are Chinese suppliers Dongfang, Sewind, CSIC Haizhuang, and United Power, along with German supplier Senvion and the Danish-Japanese joint venture MHI Vestas.