The wind market commissioned nearly 100 gigawatts of new build in 2020 and installations grew 59% year-on-year, according to the report 2020 Global Wind Turbine Market Shares published by BloombergNEF (BNEF). Developers commissioned some 96.3GW of wind turbines globally in 2020, compared with 60.7GW the previous year. Most of these were on land (94%), as the addition of new turbines at sea fell to 6.1GW – a 19% drop compared to 2019.Just four manufacturers accounted for more than half (51%) of the machines deployed: General Electric (GE), Vestas, Goldwind and Envision all commissioned over 10GW last year, as the gap widened between the leading manufacturers and smaller players.
The latest data from BNEF shows that GE and Goldwind were the top two turbine suppliers in 2020, following a surge in installations in the U.S. and China. Vestas, which placed first for four years, fell to third place in the 2020 ranking. GE earned its spot at the top of the ranking by increasing its onshore installations by 6.6GW year-on-year, with installations in the USA accounting for some 70% of its 13.5GW global portfolio.
BNEF identified 57.8GW of new wind capacity commissioned in China last year. In the onshore market, this was more than was commissioned by the entire world in 2019. This surge in demand for turbines in China allowed smaller domestic turbine makers to fully utilise their idling manufacturing capacity, and gain ground on their foreign competitors in the global ranking.
The USA commissioned 16.5GW of new wind capacity last year, as developers prepared for a phase-out of the production tax credit. This was 77% more than in 2019 and 2.6GW higher than the country’s previous record in 2012. GE supplied 57% (9.4GW) of this new capacity, and stretched its lead over the competition. Vestas’ market share sank to 31% in 2020, even though the Danish turbine maker commissioned a company record of 5.1GW across 14 U.S. states.
Total onshore wind additions in 2020 were 19.4GW in the Americas, 12.6GW in Europe and 863MW in Africa and the Middle East, while Asia Pacific accounted for 57.3GW. BNEF’s database registered new wind farms starting full commercial operations in 44 countries.
Siemens Gamesa retains its position as the leader in the offshore wind market. Last year, Siemens Gamesa commissioned 1.91GW at sea, with 752MW at the Borssele wind farm in the Netherlands, and a further 539MW at the East Anglia One project in the U.K., among other sites. In a bid to reposition itself as a leading turbine supplier to the offshore wind industry, Vestas acquired MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in late 2020. It may be a few years before this move shakes up the turbine supply market as Siemens Gamesa already tops the offshore wind order books out to 2025. Five turbine makers from China – Shanghai Electric, Mingyang, Envision, Goldwind and CSSC – overtook Vestas, which slipped to seventh place in the offshore wind market.