GE carved out the largest market share in 2020 in a record-breaking year for global wind capacity additions, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Developers commissioned 96.3GW of wind turbines globally in 2020, compared with 60.7GW the previous year, most of which (94%) were on land.
The latest data from BNEF shows that GE emerged as the global number one spot in terms of capacity installed, with Goldwind in second place, Vestas in third and Envision in fourth place.
The four manufacturers accounted for 51% of the machines deployed last year and each commissioned over 10GW, with the gap widening between the leading manufacturers and smaller players, BNEF stated.
“GE and Goldwind claimed the top two spots in this year’s ranking by concentrating on the largest markets. This strategy may not be as fruitful in 2021 as subsidies lapse in those areas,” said Isabelle Edwards, wind associate at BNEF and lead author of the 2020 Global Wind Turbine Market Shares report.
“Vestas takes on less market risk, with turbines commissioned in 34 countries last year.”
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 US accounting for some 70% of its 13.5GW global portfolio.
China, meanwhile, accounted for 98% of the capacity commissioned by Chinese turbine makers.
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 utilize their idling manufacturing capacity, and gain ground on their foreign competitors in the global ranking.
“While every region commissioned more wind capacity than the year prior, the unprecedented growth observed in 2020 should be credited to the Chinese wind market,” said Edwards. “Nearly every turbine maker is now selling turbines into China, and in 2020 it was the second-largest market for both GE and Vestas.”
“Over twenty turbine makers supplied wind turbines to China and many of them were able to double or triple their year-on year installed capacity,” said Leo Wang, Beijing-based wind associate at BNEF.
“The expiring onshore and offshore subsidies fuelled the uptick in installations. Following the lapse of onshore feed-in premiums, the market is likely to see demand drop this year.”
The US 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, stretching 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 US states.
Siemens Gamesa retained its position as the leader in the offshore wind market in 2020, commissioning 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 UK.
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.
BNEF said 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.