Wind turbine orders at OEM Nordex surged during the first quarter of this year, with the overwhelming majority of machines sold in the 4 or 5MW category of the Delta4000 class.
The order intake shot up 59% to 1.64GW in the first quarter of 2020 from the year-earlier period.
“This is the result of our successful product strategy. With 1.4GW, the Delta4000 series alone accounted for 85% of the turbines sold,” chief executive José Luis Blanco said.
“The high proportion of our new 5MW+ class turbines introduced in 2019, with 93 turbines alone sought in this category, is particularly pleasing."
The strong order intake in the first quarter bodes well for the recovery of the still loss-making company.
Nordex last week had issued a bullish estimate for its 2020 sales and operating results, although it cautioned that its guidance depends on the economic impact of Covid-19 and how quickly the coronavirus can be contained.
The manufacturer’s European home market accounted for almost 79% of first quarter orders, with the strongest individual markets being Norway, the UK, Turkey and Finland.
Nordex last month had announced a 400MW order for its N149/5.X in Norway attached to a power purchase agreement (PPA) with aluminium producer Alcoa.
The company also fared well in South America, with 269MW in orders from Chile, and 83MW from Brazil.