- Vestas takes improved 22% of global onshore wind market in 2018
- Total onshore capacity addition of 45.4GW is down on 2017 figure
- Offshore installations at 4.3GW including record Chinese growth
- 60GW onshore market expected in 2019 and 2020
Vestas strengthened its position as global onshore wind number-one at the head of a ‘big four’ group of OEMs that dominated the sector in 2018, said analyst group BloombergNEF (BNEF) as it warned of two ‘stormy years’ ahead despite a sharply growing market.
Vestas took a fraction over 10GW, or 22% of the 45.4GW of onshore capacity added globally last year. That left the Danish group up on its 16% share of the 2017 market, according to BNEF’s latest Global Wind Turbine Market Shares.
1. Vestas 10.09GW
2. Goldwind 6.66GW
3. GE 4.96GW
4. Siemens Gamesa 4.08GW
5. Envision 3.28GW
6. Enercon 2.53GW
7. Ming Yang 2.44GW
8. Nordex 2.43GW
9. Guodian Up 1.29GW
10. Windey 940MW
Source: BNEF Global Wind Turbine Market Shares 2018. Fully commissioned capacity
Vestas, Goldwind, GE and Siemens Gamesa between them made up a quad of OEMs that accounted for 57% of the turbines deployed last year.
Goldwind, which leapt from third to second place, owed its success almost entirely to China, where it took a third of the 19.3GW onshore market, said the data.
Third-placed GE commissioned 60% of its machines in the US, said BNEF, adding a twist by claiming that by its calculations the American giant lost by just 44MW a 3GW-apiece race with Vestas to be number-one turbine OEM on its home turf last year. The American Wind Energy Association earlier narrowly awarded the number-one spot to GE under its metrics.
Siemens Gamesa, which fell from second to fourth in BNEF’s rankings, saw a 40% year-on-year fall in turbines commissioned to 4.1GW, said the research group “although the tally does not include a number of very large wind farms that are only partially built and will not come online until 2019”.
With the lowest tally of the big four, Siemens Gamesa was still well ahead of smaller rivals such as Envision, Enercon and Nordex, the BNEF report shows.
Lead author and senior wind analyst Tom Harries told Recharge the rest of the pack would have to skillfully manage factors such as pricing and technical innovation to stay in the game.
Geographical focus could also be an option, added Harries. “Some manufacturers have gone really global – the likes of Vestas, Siemens Gamesa. But others are targeting certain markets. Nordex has done very well in the US, and also Suzlon, which just concentrates on one market, India, and is really tailor-made for that market.
“Maybe some of the smaller players could benefit from homing in on one market, rather than trying to tap everything.”
BNEF put global offshore additions at 4.3GW, a record 1.7GW of it in China where “we will see more growth”, according to Harries.
“In Europe it was a tight race between Siemens Gamesa and MHI Vestas. GE has some projects coming up in France, and we also expect to see orders for their new 12MW platform.”
The 45.4GW added onshore last year represented a dip on the 47GW installed in 2017, as policy headwinds in Germany and India held back those markets.
BNEF expects 2019 and 2020 to each see demand for about 60GW of onshore wind. But its head of wind research David Hostert warned: “Now it is time for the manufacturers to buckle up for two stormy years ahead.
“A lot of this impressive-sounding volume rides on extremely competitive pricing, add-on products and services, and new financing models. This will be tough to deliver for the Big Four, let alone the smaller turbine makers.”
