GlobalData has released its annual wind turbine manufacturer rankings, which reveal that Siemens Gamesa (SGRE) toppled last year’s number one, Vestas Wind Systems, replacing it as the new leader in the wind turbine manufacturing sphere in 2017 – with an impressive 9.43 gigawatts (GW). Vestas secured the second spot with 7.52GW of installations in 2017.

SGRE gained ground with a 26.4% rise over the previous year’s installations, while Vestas saw a 14% fall in installations in the same period. Goldwind came in third, followed by General Electric (GE) – both dropping one place compared to last year – and Enercon was fifth.

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The top five turbine manufacturers accounted for nearly 58% of the total installed capacity in 2017, up almost 7% on the previous year.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE): SGRE jumped one place in securing the leading position compared to last year. The recent merger of Gamesa and Siemens created a strong position in the industry across the onshore and offshore space. The competitive advantage of larger size and scale, along with good geographic diversification, provided the necessary push enabling it to claim the top spot. As a result of merger synergies, SGRE’s wide product mix, global presence, and strong position in the offshore wind sector should help to safeguard its lead over the closest competitors.

Vestas Wind Systems: Vestas could not hold onto the top spot it attained last year against the synergies and vast geographic spread of SGRE. The company recently released a report exploring the wind turbine market, which stated that Vestas had performed strongly throughout all regions – with particularly high activity levels in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, China, and India. With an all-time high order backlog and increasing offshore activities, Vestas will look to retake the top spot in the coming years.

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Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology: The company is the largest wind turbine generator (WTG) manufacturer in China for the seventh consecutive year, while its global new installation market share reached 10.4% in 2017. Goldwind said it had accelerated innovation and actively expanded the overseas wind power market and offshore wind power market. The group made breakthroughs in six emerging markets, namely, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Argentina, and Brazil.

GE Renewable Energy: GE fell one position to fourth place, mainly due to its shrinking home market. The company installed 4.83GW in 2017, down 17% from 5.81GW in 2016.

Enercon: Enercon continued to be comfortable in fifth position amid a strong performance in the growing domestic market (Germany) with a record installation of 3.35GW out of 6.5GW installed in Germany in 2017. Enercon said it wants to tap the repowering market in the market spread it operates and has plans of setting up cooperation agreements with independent service providers for repair and maintenance in those markets.

Global Wind Market Update

Our Global Wind Market Update report examines the performance of the global wind market in 2017 and provides key trends about major markets, leading technological trends, and policy updates. The report also provides the forecast for the global wind market and key countries. Below are a few preliminary takeaways from the report:

Key Trends in the Global Wind Market:

  • Decline in global new wind installations seen in 2017: The 4% drop year-on-year (YoY) in new wind installations in 2017 versus 2016 is primarily due to a slowdown in installations in China.
  • Global wind power market consolidation activity to increase: Consolidation in the wind power sector will be a key factor in the wind turbine manufacturing segment over the next few years. The creation of larger, more efficient wind power equipment manufacturing entities will help boost cost efficiency in the wind power sector through improved economies of scale and access to cheaper finance.
  • Record offshore wind project installations in 2017: Offshore wind installations in Europe more than doubled in 2017, with the largest contributions from the UK and Germany, who together accounted for about 64% of total EU offshore installations. China surpassed the 1GW installation mark in 2017 with more than 4GW under construction at present. The UK, Germany, China, Denmark, and the Netherlands are the major offshore wind power markets, with a number of projects currently in planning and under construction.
  • Auctions are becoming the new normal: Auction-based bidding will drive wind power in most of the key markets. This process leads to cost competitiveness, and it also encourages state-owned distribution utilities to award wind power projects through a bidding route.
  • Upward trend in average wind turbine size: Global average onshore turbine size, in terms of capacity, increased from 1.35 megawatts (MW) in 2006 to 2.54MW in 2016, due to the improved efficiency and yield of large turbines. The global average offshore wind turbine size in 2017 was 4.62MW. The average wind turbine size for onshore WTG is expected to reach 3.70MW by 2025, with 5.50MW for offshore WTG.

For more insight and data, visit the GlobalData Report Store – Power Technology is part of GlobalData Plc.