Vestas installed the most wind turbines last year, overtaking Goldwind

Danish company Vestas has taken first place in the ranking by annual wind power installations, overtaking Goldwind, which led the ranking last year. Gamesa and GE also improved their positions, while Siemens dropped out of the top five.

The main reason for Vestas’s return to first place was an increase in installations in the United States, where the company supplied more wind turbines than rival GE. GE recorded fewer wind power installations overall than Vestas. Thanks to Goldwind’s decline, it became the world’s second-largest supplier of wind turbines.

GE benefited in 2016 primarily from a high number of installations in its home market. Similarly, German company Enercon capitalised on this advantage, taking fifth place. It likely benefited from one of the last years in which German wind power capacity increased by more than 4 GW.

By contrast, Goldwind and Siemens in particular did not fare well last year. Goldwind lost first place mainly due to a decline in the number of new turbines in China. According to FTI Consulting, their construction fell by 24 % year on year.

According to FTI Consulting analyst Feng Zhao, Goldwind’s decline proves that it is not possible to focus on just one market, which may not remain successful permanently due to changing conditions.

„2016 in China brought the market back to reality after the unusual year of 2015.“ Feng Zhao, Senior Director at FTI Consulting

Siemens, which is heard of primarily in the offshore wind power segment, failed to make the top five companies supplying wind turbines for the first time since 2012. The main reasons were the company’s lower annual wind power installations in the United States and in the offshore sector generally.

Nordex returned to the top 10 companies, achieving a higher market share thanks to its acquisition of Acciona’s wind turbine business.

Source of the opening image: Flickr Frank Jakobi