Wind Market Blows to 44 GW in Global Orders in Q4 ’22 on Chinese Orders

As per Wood Mackenzie, in 2022, global wind turbine order intake peaked to new heights. While 44 gigawatts (GW) was procured in Q4, 134.6 GW was recorded for the year. Both the numbers have set new records. Yearly investment touched an estimated $74.2 billion and saw domination in activity by China.

As far as the cumulative order intake is concerned, it saw an increase of 90% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 and 30% year-over-year for the fiscal year. Of this, China recorded 65% of order capacity in Q4. It boasted of 70% share in all order capacity in the year. This activity was driven by developers positioning to comply with China’s 14^th five-year plan, which highlights green energy development in the Asian nation.

While on one hand, China claimed the primary chunk of global order capacity, order intake outside of China slid by 15% YoY to 41 GW, which is nearly 9 GW off the four-year average for full-year order capacity from 2018 to 2021.

“We’ve seen incredible activity in China, but its soaring numbers have somewhat masked a slowdown from western OEMs, which have been impacted by supply chain challenges and cost increases. This has negatively impacted both new order intake and installation activity outside of China,” said Luke Lewandowski, Wood Mackenzie Research Director.

North America’s future pipeline looks promising, however, its order intake was relatively flat YoY, up 7%.

“We are already seeing the positive reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act, with H2 orders up 224% over H1 in the US,” added Lewandowski.

The year saw offshore wind establishing new records, with 19 GW of order intake. China claimed 80% of the activity.

Chinese OEMs Envision, Mingyang, and Goldwind led the rankings for order intakes in 2022, with more than 17 GW each.

The global wind energy market is set for a face off between western and Chinese firms, with the former keen to avoid the fate that befell western firms in the solar space. A complete wipe out by China based firms. In wind energy, the odds are much more in their favour, with firms having a large, established customer base that provides steady services income, protection and incentives in key ‘home’ markets, and of course, emerging markets like India where opportunities in offshore wind and repowering of existing onshore base is a large opportunity now.