Wind turbine orders climb to 69.5GW in first half of 2023: Wood Mackenzie

Global orders for wind turbines hit new highs in the first half of 2023 with 69.5GW of intake, up 12% on last year, according to new analysis by global consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.

China remains overwhelmingly the largest market, with 44GW of orders there in the first half of that year, but demand in that country was flat compared to the same period of 2022, the WoodMac data showed.

The 12% jump was driven by growth in non-Chinese markets, especially in the US.

“Demand in the global offshore market, particularly in the US and Europe, has been one of the main drivers of this growth,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president of global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.

In North America orders reached 7.7GW in the first half of the year, more than quadrupling the total intake of 1.9GW in the first half of 2022, and two overseas orders accounted for 49% of this total, the analysis showed.

“We’ve seen strong demand out of China this year, which is really encouraging,” said Lewandowski.

“Supply chain challenges remain, but conditions have improved enough to spark procurement decisions,” he said. “Momentum from the Inflation Reduction Act in the US has helped to motivate order activity, although increasing clarity and market certainty will drive an even larger volume.”

Despite China's intake "remaining flat” in the first half of the year, Lewandowski said orders there continue to be "incredibly impressive”.

Globally, offshore orders increased 26% from last year to a record first-half intake of 12GW in the first half of 2023, accounting for 17% of all order capacity.

On a quarterly analysis, offshore order capacity was up 48% year-on-year, hitting 9.1GW, which the analysis said is 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.

He highlighted some "really big deals" that reached a final investment decision in the second quarter, including orders of 2.6GW and 1.2GW 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,” Lewandowski added.

The surge in offshore activity helped Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to the top spot in Wood Mackenzie's assessment across both the onshore and offshore sectors with 5.9GW of capacity in the second quarter.

China’s Goldwind had the second highest amount of quarterly order intake activity with 4.9GW, followed by another Chinese company, Windey, on 4.4GW.

For the first half of 2023, the overall order intake leaders were Envision (9.7GW), Windey (8.7GW) and SGRE (8.2GW).