With a clear lead, Vestas has reclaimed the top spot in another annual ranking of onshore global wind turbine manufacturers, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Following, respectively, were GE, Goldwind, Gamesa and Enercon. Likewise, FTI Consulting reported the same top-five order earlier this week.
Some 8.7 GW of Vestas onshore turbines were installed in 2016, the report says. Thanks to a strong push in the U.S., the Danish turbine manufacturer overtook Goldwind for first place this year.
GE placed second with 6.5 GW – some 0.6 GW more than in 2015. Though GE narrowly lost its traditional lead in the U.S. market for newly commissioned turbines to Vestas, it managed to increase its global presence to 21 countries in 2016 (from 14 in 2015), according to the report.
Goldwind fell from first to third place with 6.4 GW in 2016. BNEF says virtually all of the Chinese manufacturer’s capacity was built in its home coountry, where Goldwind further extended its market share. China’s contracting wind market had a clear impact on Goldwind, considering overall installations there were 22.8 GW – down 21% from the record 29 GW in 2015.
“This year’s ranking shows why 2016 was all about mergers in the turbine maker sector,” comments David Hostert, head of wind research for BNEF. “There is now a strong breakaway group of three companies at the front, with a fairly tight field following. The upcoming merger of Siemens Wind and Gamesa will allow the joined company to catch up and create a ‘big four’ group of dominant manufacturers. Staying at the front of this pack will require both significant size and a balanced presence in the right markets.”
Narrowly ahead of Germany’s Enercon, Spain’s Gamesa came in fourth place for onshore turbine installations. Both companies managed to significantly increase their overall installations compared with 2015, the report says. In addition, while one out of every two Enercon turbines was installed in Germany, almost one in three Gamesa turbines was installed in India.
Nordex returned to the top 10 in sixth place, following its merger with Acciona Windpower last year. China’s Guodian United Power remained in seventh place, ahead of Siemens, and Chinese firms Ming Yang and Envision tied for ninth place. (The difference between the two manufacturers is too close to call, says BNEF.)
As for offshore turbine manufacturers, BNEF reports the following top five: Sewind, Siemens, Goldwind, Envision and XEMC.
According to the report, only 832 MW of new offshore wind capacity was commissioned in 2016 in a year that was dominated by installations in Asia. Though 2016 was a record for new offshore wind financings for projects to be built over the next few years in Europe, the actual amount being commissioned globally last year was far below 2015’s 4.2 GW.
China’s Sewind, which produces Siemens offshore turbines under a license in China, placed first in offshore with 489 MW. Of these, some 388 MW were Siemens turbines, and 101 MW were machines of its own design. Under BNEF’s methodology, Siemens placed second with two projects in the Netherlands and Taiwan.
BNEF notes that Gamesa and Siemens are shown as separate companies because their merger has not yet been finalized. 
