Global wind turbine order intake rose 12% year-over-year in the first half of 2023, reaching a new record of 69.5 GW, with encouraging strong demand outside of China, Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.
Orders from outside of China jumped 47% to more than 25 GW. In North America, orders more than quadrupled to 7.7 GW, with two offshore orders responsible for 49% of this.
“Supply chain challenges remain, but conditions have improved enough to spark procurement decisions. 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,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.
While China remains by far the largest market with 44 GW of orders in the first half, activity was flat compared to a year ago.
Offshore orders jumped 26% year-over-year in the first half to a record 12 GW, with a quarterly rise of 48% year-over-year to a record high of 9.1 GW. There were two big orders of 2,640 MW and 1,176 MW in North America. “The fact that these deals became firm during a difficult time for OEM [original equipment manufacturer] financials and amidst the cancellation of several offtake agreements for large projects is both encouraging and significant,” said Lewandowski.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) ranked first for new onshore and offshore orders in the second quarter with 5.9 GW thanks to demand for its SG 14.X DD offshore turbine. It was followed by two Chinese manufacturers — Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology with 4.9 GW and Zhejiang Windey with 4.4 GW.
The top three for the first half were Envision Energy with 9.7 GW, Windey with 8.7 GW and SGRE with 8.2 GW.
