London and New York, March 27, 2024 – Global wind capacity additions surged to a record high of 118GW in 2023, according to a new report by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF). BNEF’s 2023 Global Wind Turbine Market Shares report finds that developers commissioned 36% more capacity worldwide than in 2022 after capacity additions skyrocketed in the world’s largest market, China. Some 107GW, or 90%, of global wind additions were on land while 11GW was offshore.
China’s Goldwind maintained its position as the world’s leading wind turbine supplier. The company commissioned 16.4GW of projects last year, 95% of which were in its home market. The record new build in China also propelled Envision, another local player, to second place, adding 15.4GW. Danish company Vestas ranked third, the only European manufacturer to make the top five, with 13.4GW. Windey finished fourth and Mingyang finished fifth in BNEF’s ranking.
“It’s no surprise that Chinese turbine makers dominate the top five in our ranking, as buildout of gigawatt-scale wind projects and an end to pandemic restrictions sent installations soaring last year,” said Cristian Dinca, wind analyst at BloombergNEF and lead author of the report, “but these players still rely heavily on their home market, with 98% of all their capacity additions coming in China itself.”
However, Chinese turbine makers are also growing their presence in foreign markets. In 2023, China-based firms commissioned 1.7GW of wind projects in 20 markets overseas, including five EU member states, almost three times as many markets as in 2018. This was in part due to steep turbine price reductions, which have offered a chance for Chinese companies to expand their exports. Goldwind had the largest foreign footprint of the Chinese players, with 748MW, followed closely by Envision with 561MW. According to BNEF, prices for Chinese-made wind turbines delivered outside mainland China are 20% lower than those of US and European companies.
US turbine maker GE, which finished third in 2022, fell to sixth place in 2023, as its installations dropped 35% in its home market. The firm still maintained its spot as the top US turbine maker, but wind additions in the country fell to their lowest levels since 2017.
“The boom in China last year hides a worrying trend, as new additions elsewhere were just 8% higher than in 2022” said Oliver Metcalfe, head of wind research at BloombergNEF. “There are signs that growth will accelerate, though. A surge in US turbine orders shows the early impact of the new subsidies in the country’s Inflation Reduction Act, while a boom in project approvals in countries like Germany suggests that Europe’s permitting reform is working.”
In offshore wind, Chinese turbine maker Mingyang doubled its annual installations to almost 3GW in 2023, becoming the largest global supplier of turbines at sea for the first time. Siemens Gamesa failed to secure the number one offshore wind spot for the third year in a row, after previously holding the position since 2017.
With 7.6GW, China was once again the largest market for new offshore wind capacity, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global total in 2023. Despite build falling by over 2GW from 2022, the UK maintained its second place, while the Netherlands was the third largest market for offshore wind additions last year.
Mainland China accounted for two thirds of global build, while the US was the second largest market, adding 7.2GW. Countries in the EU added a record 15.3GW last year, 16% more than the 13.2GW installed in 2022. Brazil was the largest Latin American market. The country set a record with 5.0GW, doubling its capacity from last year.
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