The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) recently published the second edition of its annual ‘Supply-Side Analysis 2019’ report, which said that 22,893 wind turbines were installed globally in 2019. These turbines came from 33 suppliers, accounting for over 63 GW of capacity.

According to GWEC, this was a new supply-side record in terms of capacity for the industry.

The report states that Vestas Wind System, a wind turbine manufacturer, which accounted for 18% of all wind turbines installed in 2019, continued to hold its place as the top supplier last year. According to GWEC’s analysis, the company managed to stay on top, mainly due to its global diversification strategy with installations in over 40 countries.

In May, Vestas had revealed that in the first quarter of 2020, the company generated a revenue of €2.235 billion (~$2.42 billion), showing a year-over-year increase of 29% compared to €1.73 billion (~$1.88 billion) in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (15.7%) moved up by one position to take the second place. The supplier doubled its offshore wind installations in 2019 and expanded its geographic coverage.

China’s Goldwind (13.2%) dropped to the third position from the second spot, even as the company increased its annual installations by 19% in 2019.

GWEC’s report also states that out of the top 15 wind turbine suppliers in 2019, 10 installed offshore wind turbines last year. These installations accounted for nearly all (99.9%) of the record 6.1 GW of offshore wind capacity installed in 2019.

The report said, “Last year was also the first time we saw a purely offshore wind supplier MHI Vestas, break the global top 15, demonstrating the increasingly important role that the offshore industry is playing to drive wind power growth.”

GE Renewable Energy and Envision remained on the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Similarly, Mingyang and Nordex Acciona, moved one position up to the sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Germany-based Enercon dropped by two positions taking the eighth place. The report states that the drop in the company’s position is primarily due to a “significant decline in installations in its home market.”

Meanwhile, it was good news for Windey, as it entered the top 10 for the first time as the supplier doubled its installations in China, moving up four positions and taking ninth place.

Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC, said: “We are continuing to see market consolidation for turbine suppliers globally, with the number of suppliers declining from 37 in 2018 to 33 in 2019. At the same time, the top six-turbine vendors collectively increased their market share from 70% in 2018 to 72% in 2019. Within this competitive landscape, current trends favor companies that shift from being solely manufacturers to evolving into holistic systems and solution providers to allow for greater market diversification.”

He also said that in 2019, the average turbine size surpassed 2,750 kW while in countries like Denmark and the United Kingdom, the turbines passed the 5,000 kW milestone.

“This is a 72% increase for an average turbine size in the past decade alone and is a testament to the industry’s leadership in technology innovation and maturity of the global sector,” Backwell added.

Meanwhile, Feng Zhao, the strategy director of GWEC, said that 2020 was forecasted to be another record-breaking year. However, disruption of the global supply chain and delays on wind project execution have forced major shareholders in the wind industry to withdraw their 2020 financial and production guidance as well as adjust their market outlook for the year.

“In 2019, eight Chinese turbine vendors were included in the top 15 suppliers’ ranking, but the top two spots were held by European suppliers, Vestas and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. With the COVID-19 crisis now disrupting supply chains, manufacturing, and project execution globally, these rankings will likely shift in 2020 depending on how quickly countries and businesses can recover from the pandemic”, he added.

In another recent report, GWEC analyzed how COVID-19 is impacting the global wind industry, including India. The GWEC observed that the pressure is tremendous for project developers and manufacturers considering the financial situations caused by the disruption of coronavirus on the Chinese wind supply chain. India is one of the world’s largest wind gearbox manufacturing bases with nearly 10 GW of annual output. “These disruptions, especially in February and March, have sent ripples across manufacturing hubs such as Europe, China, and the United States as wind turbines require multiple parts that are shipped from across the globe,” the report stated.

Earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasted that the global renewable installations might fall for the first time in 20 years due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The report also showed that solar and wind installations accounted for about 86% of global capacity additions in 2020. However, the report stated that the annual expansion rate of wind installations is expected to decline by 12% compared to 2019.

Anjana is a news editor at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, she held roles of senior editor, district correspondent, and sub-editor for The Times of India, Biospectrum and The Sunday Guardian. Before that, she worked at the Deccan Herald and the Asianlite as chief sub-editor and news editor. She has also contributed to The Quint, Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, Reader’s Digest (UK edition), IndiaSe (Singapore-based magazine) and Asiaville. Anjana holds a Master’s degree in Geography from North Bengal University, and a diploma in mass communication and journalism from Guru Ghasidas University, Bhopal.