Global: Vestas loses top position

A Chinese firm in 2015 for the first time topped an annual ranking of onshore wind turbine manufacturers. Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology led Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual rankings with 7.8GW of capacity commissioned, buoyed by a surging Chinese market that installed a record 28.7GW last year. Virtually all Goldwind’s 2015 capacity was built in China, a market where, combined, foreign manufacturers accounted for less than 5% of market share.

Denmark’s Vestas followed in second place with 7.3GW commissioned, up 2.5GW from 2014. The company pursued a global strategy, commissioning projects in 32 countries globally, 18 more than the next-highest competitor.

GE fell from first place last year to third in 2015 with 5.9GW, 700MW more than it commissioned in 2014. GE is the largest turbine provider to the US market, which accounts for 62% of its global installations.

“It’s hardly surprising that five Chinese manufacturers made the top ten ranking in a year where China contributed roughly half of the global capacity,” said Amy Grace, head of wind research for BNEF. “It is more surprising how dominant Goldwind was in its domestic market.  The company commissioned more than two-and-a-half times the amount of capacity as the next largest Chinese manufacturer, Guodian.”

In the onshore segment, which accounts for the vast bulk of the market, Germany’s Siemens tied for fourth place with Spain’s Gamesa as both companies installed 3.1GW in 2015. Meanwhile, German firm Enercon fell to sixth place. Enercon continues to dominate its home market, which accounted for 48% of its turbines commissioned in 2015.

Four Chinese manufacturers feature in the bottom half of the global top ten onshore ranking. Guodian fell to seventh place from sixth last year, Ming Yang and Envision tied for eighth place, and CSIC joins the list for the first time in tenth place with 2GW of installed capacity.

OFFSHORE WIND: Siemens was the number one turbine manufacturer last year by a wide margin. The company commissioned 2.6GW in 2015, more than four times second-ranked Adwen, a joint venture between Gamesa and Areva.