H1 global wind turbine orders hit new high, say Wood Mac

North America quadruples YoY growth, offshore orders surge and demand sustains in China wind turbine order intake reached new highs in H1, with 69.5 gigawatts (GW) of activity, a 12 percent increase year-over-year, according to a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie.

A big driver of this activity was orders from outside of China, which saw more than 25 GW of order demand for a 47% increase year-over-year through H1. North America saw orders reach 7.7 GW, more than quadrupling H1 2022’s total of 1.9 GW, with two offshore orders accounting for 49% of the total. China overwhelmingly remains the largest market, with 44 GW of activity in H1, but demand was flat year-over-year. In total, orders accounted for US$25.3 billion in Q2, and US $40.5 billion in H1 2023.

“We’ve seen strong demand outside of China this year, which is really encouraging,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie. “Supply chain challenges remain, but conditions have improved enough to spark procurement decisions. Momentum from the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. has helped to motivate order activity, although increasing clarity and market certainty will drive an even larger volume. China’s intake continues to be incredibly impressive as well, even with activity remaining flat through the first half of the year. Demand in the global offshore market, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, has been one of the main drivers of this growth.”

Offshore order intake increased 26% year-over-year in H1 to a record 12 GW of activity and 17% of all order capacity. Quarterly, offshore order capacity was up 48% year-over-year, totaling 9.1 GW, also a record.

“Momentum had been building for some time in the offshore market and many deals had been conditional as project developers awaited approvals and permitting,” said Lewandowski. “We saw several really big deals officially reach a final investment decision in Q2, including orders of 2,640 MW and 1,176 MW in North America, which helped drive the record numbers and breathe some life into these markets. The fact that these deals became firm during a difficult time for OEM financials and amidst the cancellation of several offtake agreements for large projects is both encouraging and significant.”

The surge in offshore activity pushed SGRE to the top spot in new order capacity across both the onshore and offshore sectors (5.9 GW) in Q2 as it set an offshore intake quarterly record with its SG 14.X DD turbine. Goldwind had the second highest amount of total order intake activity in Q2 (4.9 GW), followed by Windey (4.4 GW).

For H1, overall order intake leaders were Envision (9.7 GW), Windey (8.7 GW) and SGRE (8.2 GW).