Global wind turbine firm order intake reached 215 GW in 2025, the second-highest annual total on record, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie.

Total order volume fell 8% year-over-year (YoY), primarily due to slower demand in China as developers focused on executing prior orders.

Chinese OEM Expansion

Despite the shifting focus, Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) witnessed a 66% surge in orders across international markets in 2025. This order volume is more than triple the 2023 levels.

Leading Chinese OEMs have been aiming for overseas expansion for several years. This expansion strategy yielded results through advanced, flexible offerings supported by a low-cost manufacturing base.

Finlay Clark, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, stated that leading Chinese OEMS are increasingly receiving orders in high-growth markets such as the Middle East, India, and Latin America. These companies achieved this order growth through the rapid rollout of 10 MW or more wind turbine platforms.

He added that wind project developers in the Middle East and Africa region favored early availability of the 10 MW model to reduce costs for gigawatt-scale projects. This helped Chinese OEMs capture 95% of the regional capacity.

Notably, Chinese turbine manufacturer Goldwind secured a 3.1 GW order for two projects, the largest single turbine order in the region on record.

Chinese OEM Leadership

Turbine manufacturers from China dominated the 2025 leaderboard, achieving eight of the top ten positions. Goldwind led the rankings, followed by Envision and Windey.

Chinese manufacturers accounted for approximately 70% of global orders despite reduced domestic demand. However, domestic projects accounted for 90% of the Chinese OEM intake even as overseas orders increased.

Yuan Ren, Senior Analyst, Power and Renewables, at Wood Mackenzie, stated that China awarded over 150 GW of wind orders in 2025, a strong outcome despite a 15% YoY decline from the 2024 peak.

“Power market reforms typically slow procurement, but the new price settlement mechanism supported revenue visibility. Sustained high intake reflected resilient onshore demand and wind’s stronger capture prices versus solar,” said Ren.

Wind turbine firm order intake outside China reached 65 GW in 2025, lifted by record performance in the fourth quarter. Orders in Europe for onshore wind projects rose over 60% after Germany’s regulatory reforms enabled permitting. The country permitted 21 GW of wind projects in 2025, double the amount permitted in 2024.

Danish company Vestas led the non-Chinese manufacturers with 16 GW, while German firm Nordex topped European onshore intake and was awarded a record 10 GW globally.

Costs and Pricing

Turbine pricing remained largely flat in 2025. It remained elevated compared to 2022 and 2023, despite significant competition.

Wood Mackenzie said new policy frictions in the market added cost and procurement complexity, highlighting that the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the U.S. tariffs have raised landed costs for steel-heavy components. These policy changes have also made surcharges and compliance clauses for steel-intensive components of wind projects increasingly common.

Turbine costs under CBAM could rise by low single digits. However, developers and regulators continued pushing for lower pricing to protect project economics.

“Policy measures are creating upward pressure on input costs, but project economics continue to demand lower pricing. This tension between regulatory costs and market demands could accelerate the development of new onshore turbine technologies, particularly in Europe and the US,” said Clark.

Wood Mackenzie said the offshore wind order intake reduced by 17% in 2025 due to slow procurement before multiple redesigned tender frameworks in Europe.

Newer subsidy programs are being introduced through 2026, supporting a stronger award pipeline for OEMs. A notable example is Vestas’ recent order for the United Kingdom’s 1.4 GW Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind project.

Wind turbine installations reached a record capacity of 121.6 GW in 2024, double the capacity commissioned in 2019, according to a BloombergNEF report.

In January, a Global Wind Energy Council report said that the Asia-Pacific region continues to drive global wind growth, led by China and India, with worldwide wind capacity expected to surpass 2 TW by 2030.