Chinese turbine makers dominate but Siemens Gamesa rules the waves: GWEC

Chinese manufacturers dominated the 127GW of new wind turbines installed last year, but Siemens Gamesa remains streets ahead in offshore deployment and Vestas boasts the widest reach, new Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) data shows.

Twenty-nine suppliers mechanically installed 23,098 turbines amounting to 127GW of capacity in 2024, up from 121GW in 2023, said GWEC in a new report released today.

“Despite a year of diverse challenges,” GWEC chief research officer Feng Zhao said the deployment of so much capacity is a “clear sign of the resilience and continuing upward trajectory of the global wind industry.”

However, although some wind turbine manufacturers achieved positive earnings before interest and taxes margins for their turbine production business last year for the first time since 2021, GWEC said that “more than half of the Western and several Chinese turbine suppliers continued to see negative year-on-year growth in net profit.”

Chinese turbine makers continued to increase their share of total installations due to strong growth in their home market. For the first time, the global top four suppliers were all Chinese, found GWEC. Denmark’s Vestas was fifth.

Goldwind remains the global leader, installing more than 20GW worldwide last year. Second place was Envision, which saw falling installations domestically but enjoyed a record 3.5GW of overseas deployment, a Chinese record.

Mingyang and Windey rounded out a Chinese lockdown on the top four, bumping Vestas down from third last year. The Danish powerhouse saw its installations fall 13% on 2023, said GWEC.

Siemens Gamesa came in eighth in the global combined rankings but still dominated offshore wind deployment, with 32.5% of the total. Mingyang (16.8%) and Goldwind (10.5%) came in second and third.

Vestas meanwhile can still boast easily the widest global reach of any turbine maker, with projects in 34 markets. Germany’s Nordex (27 markets), Enercon (23) and Siemens Gamesa (21) had the next widest reach, with Goldwind (14) pipping GE Vernova (13) to fifth place.

“Although ten out of the global top 15 wind turbine suppliers in 2024 come from China,” Zhao noted that 94% of this was “still in their home market.” Only Goldwind and Envision installed in more than five markets, he added. That duo accounted for 98% of Chinese installations outside of China last year

Vestas was the only Western OEM to report installations in China last year, he said, with 52MW of capacity added.

The average size of turbines installed also continued to rise, hitting 5.5MW onshore – 9% up on 2023 – and 9.8MW offshore. This trend is in large part down to larger onshore turbines being installed in China and larger offshore turbines being installed globally, said GWEC.