Wind farm developers placed a record 31GW of turbine orders in the second quarter of 2019, according to new research by Wood Mackenzie.
The previous record set in the fourth quarter of last year was beaten by 13.2GW, the ‘Global Wind Turbine Order Analysis: Q3 2019’ report said.
Demand in China and the US contributed to a total of 79GW ordered over the last four quarters, despite a decrease of 41% year-on-year in Europe during Q2.
China and the US enjoyed top quarters for capacity ordered as developers rushed to procure turbines with sufficient time to commission projects before 2020 subsidy deadlines in both countries, the researchers said.
Wood Mackenzie director of Americas power & renewables research Luke Lewandowski said: “Developers in China ordered more than 17GW in Q2 2019, a 267% uptick YoY compared to Q2 2018.
“71% of firm order capacity was secured in the Northern region’s onshore wind market in Q2 2019. The order volume for five major developers in China exceeded 1GW last quarter.
“The record quarter in China included more than 3GW of offshore capacity, nearly 2GW more than in Q2 2018 and a 800MW increase on the previous quarterly record in the country (Q1 2019). This added to a backlog of nearly 12.5GW.”
Vestas had the largest share of order capacity for the fifth straight quarter, enjoying the best quarter for a manufactuer in any year, Wood Mackenzie said.
Lewandowski said: “Despite a massive quarter for orders in China, diversity in the market – illustrated by seven OEMs with more than 1GW of order capacity – prevented a dominant leader, which allowed Vestas to retain the top spot.
“Eight of the top ten onshore models in Q2 are manufactured by Chinese OEMs, six of which made the top 10 for the first time ever.
“All six were new models that had never been ordered publicly prior to Q2. Vestas was the only non-Chinese OEM with any models in the top 10.”
Order intake in the 4.0-4.99MW segment increased for the fifth consecutive quarter, to more than 9GW of orders, the report said.
Lewandowski said China, the US and Brazil continued to lead the way in this ratings segment, with 91% of capacity orders coming from those three countries.
“Vestas, SEwind, Mingyang, Goldwind and DEC compiled orders for more than 1GW in this ratings segment,” he added.
Turbine pricing also increased in several markets, such as Brazil, China and the US, due to strong demand and larger, newer, more expensive models hitting the market, Wood Mackenzie said.