For the first time, a Chinese wind firm, Goldwind, topped the annual ranking of onshore wind turbine manufacturers in 2015.
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology led Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual rankings of global wind turbine manufacturers, with 7.8 GW of capacity commissioned during 2015, thanks in part to a surging market at home which installed a record 28.7 GW of new wind capacity in 2015.
“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.”
Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S came in a close second, installing 7.3 GW in 2015, up an impressive 2.5 GW from its 2014 figures — which helped the company finish 2015 with another strong financial year. GE fell from first place in 2014 to third in 2015, installing 5.9 GW, 700 MW more than it commissioned in 2014 — though GE can still be relatively happy with its dominance over the US market, accounting for 62% of its global installations, and no doubt helping the US wind industry top new electric capacity installed in 2015.
German’s Siemens tied for fourth place with Spain’s Gamesa, both of which installed 3.1 GW in 2015, while Germany’s Enercon fell to sixth place. Four Chinese manufacturers were featured in the bottom half of the top 10.
Unsurprisingly, Siemens was the number one wind turbine manufacturer for the offshore wind industry, commissioning 2.6 GW in 2015, more than four times the next closest competitor, Adwen, a joint venture between Gamesa and Areva.
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