Global wind turbine order intake hit new highs in 2022, dominated by activity in China, according to new Wood Mackenzie analysis.
Overall, 44GW was procured in Q4 and 134.6GW for the year, both records and annual investment reached an estimated $74.2 billion, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie.
Order intake increased 90% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 and 30% year-over-year for the fiscal year, with China accounting for 65% of order capacity in Q4 and 70% of all order capacity in 2022, the analysis found.
This activity was driven by developers positioning to comply with China’s 14th 5-year plan, which highlights green energy development in the Asian nation.
While China made an outsized impact on global order capacity, order intake outside of China dropped 15% YoY to 41 GW, approximately 9GW off the four-year average for full-year order capacity from 2018 to 2021, according to the analysis.
Luke Lewandowski, Wood Mackenzie research director, said: “We’ve seen incredible activity in China, but its soaring numbers have somewhat masked a slowdown from western OEMs, which have been impacted by supply chain challenges and cost increases.
“This has negatively impacted both new order intake and installation activity outside of China.”
North America order intake was relatively flat YoY, up 7%, but the future pipeline looks strong.
“We are already seeing the positive reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act, with H2 orders up 224% over H1 in the US,” added Lewandowski.
Offshore wind hit new records as well in 2022, reaching 19GW of order intake, with 80% of the activity was from China.
Chinese OEMs Envision, Mingyang, and Goldwind led the rankings for order intakes in 2022, with more than 17 GW each.