Global wind turbine orders grew 31% in 2018, with Danish manufacturer Vestas securing the most deals, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
The report – ‘Global Wind Turbine Order Analysis: Q1 2019’ – said Vestas booked 14.2GW of orders in 2018.
Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables research director and report author Luke Lewandowski said: “Vestas crushed firm order intake in 2018. The company’s 5.5GW haul in Q4 represented more than the full year intake of all OEMs, other than the top three.”
Wood Mackenzie said that in the fourth quarter of last year almost 18GW of new orders alone were made by turbine manufacturers, up 22% year-on-year.
Nordex also posted a strong order intake in the last three months of the year with 1.8GW, bringing its total orders for the year to 4.8GW, the report said.
The top four places for the full-year were held by ‘Western’ manufacturers, with China’s Goldwind in fifth. Four Chinese companies were in the top 10, Wood Mackenzie said.
All regions recorded an increase in firm orders, apart from the US, which saw a decline.
“This was primarily due to less demand for safe harbor qualification investment under 60% tax credits,” the report said.
Lewandowski said offshore wind deals impacted the technology mix and turbine rating segmentation of 2018 orders.
He said: “Industry announced nearly 8GW of offshore order capacity in 2018, beating the previous high in 2016 by nearly 2GW.
“Wind turbines rated 8MW or higher comprised over 40% of offshore order capacity in 2018, with MHI Vestas accounting for 64% of this ratings segment.
“In terms of further activity in this space, seven OEMs secured orders in China and three separate OEMs secured firm orders outside of China.
“Additionally, demand for MHI Vestas technology significantly contributed to the increasing share of direct drive technology over the past couple of years.”
He added that global turbine pricing remains relatively stable, although increasing in certain unnamed markets.
“Demand for new turbine models ahead of policy expirations and targets has started to fill order books as OEMs transition production lines, which has caused a modest uptick in pricing,” Lewandowski said.
“As transmission availability and permitting challenges increase the complexity of developable areas, we see an increasing demand on innovation and customised equipment,” he added.