Wind turbine sector undergoing major acquisitions, small players will not succeed

The wind turbine sector is currently seeing several major acquisitions. Germany’s Nordex has received approval to take over part of Acciona, which manufactures wind turbines. The acquisition of Spain’s Gamesa, which will merge with Siemens, is also continuing. 

Companies supplying wind turbines are gradually merging into large corporations, which should have a better chance of success in the future. The currently growing market is expected to stop expanding at the same pace as it has so far and to change significantly.

According to the companies, the trend in the coming years should be the construction of large wind farms, rather than small and medium-sized installations. This will give large companies a significant advantage. It appears that the future of wind power belongs primarily to a handful of major manufacturers, which will use their “strength” to secure most large contracts.

“I do not see many opportunities for small players.”
Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, CEO of NORDEX

Several company sales and merger negotiations are currently under way. In addition to Nordex, Acciona, Siemens and Gamesa, Vestas is also active. It recently completed the acquisition of Availon, an independent wind turbine service provider.

Availon was sold for EUR 88 million, has more than 400 employees and currently manages more than 2.6 GW of installed wind power capacity.

Siemens interested in Areva’s wind business as well as Gamesa

According to Reuters, Germany’s Siemens is interested in the wind turbine division of Areva, which merged with Gamesa (Adwen) to strengthen its position in offshore wind turbines.

Siemens and Gamesa are now in the final stage of negotiations on cooperation in wind turbine manufacturing. Once the cooperation agreement is signed, they should displace Vestas from first place in terms of wind turbines manufactured.

Siemens was the sole supplier of offshore wind turbines in Germany last year.