Windey blows into top three in 'fiercely competitive' Chinese turbine market: BloombergNEF

Another contender gained ground in China’s ultra-competitive turbine market as Windey broke into the top three of the world’s largest wind power sector, according to latest data from BloombergNEF.

Windey more than doubled its share of China’s annual wind additions, taking 14% of the market for new turbines with 7.6GW of installations out of a total 55.8GW added on- and offshore in the country in 2021, said the research group whose figures are among the most closely watched in the global industry.

Windey, whose installations all came onshore, trailed only Envision – a whisker ahead with 7.8GW – and market-leader Goldwind which installed 11.4GW for a 20% share, said BloombergNEF.

Windey – which claims a 40-year history in wind technology with roots in the Zhejiang Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering – markets 2MW, 3MW and 5MW machines. The company, which has ambitions to grow internationally, last year unveiled a 6MW onshore platform and plans for a 7MW offshore machine.

BloombergNEF said China’s onshore wind installations fell 23% year-on-year to 41.6GW in 2021, reflecting the 2020 subsidy dash that broke records for land-based installations.

However, a subsidy-driven boom at sea meant Chinese offshore installations more than tripled to a record 14.2GW. Shanghai Electric led offshore additions with 29% of the market, closely followed by MingYang (27%) and Goldwind (17%).

While Chinese OEMs dominated a “fiercely competitive” market that was just 2GW smaller than in 2020 thanks to the offshore surge, the handful of western OEMs active in China continued to feel the squeeze, BloombergNEF said.

Vestas, GE Renewable Energy and Siemens Gamesa between them managed just 1.2GW of additions, half the 2020 figure.

BloombergNEF said: “The outlook for 2022 remains challenging as the average onshore wind turbine selling prices of some Western turbine makers are already twice as high as the current price level in China.”