GWEC Market Intelligence released the preliminary rankings for the world’s top five wind turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Danish manufacturer Vestas held the title as the world’s largest supplier of wind turbines in 2020 across onshore and offshore wind, thanks to the manufacturer’s wide geographic diversification strategy, with new installations in 32 markets last year, and strong performance in the US, Australia, Brazil, Netherland, France, Poland, Russia and Norway.
GE Renewable Energy moves up two positions to the second place, mainly due to the explosive growth in its home market of the US and its strong position in Spain in 2020. Despite disruption caused by COVID-19 to local supply chains and project execution in the US, the American manufacturer reported more than 10 GW of installations at home last year, making it the number one supplier in the US the second year in a row.
Chinese supplier Goldwind retains the third position in 2020, although it achieved a record year in its home market with more than 12 GW installations and its new installations in overseas markets passed the 1 GW milestone for the first time. Goldwind still held the top spot in China last year, but the supplier lost market share at home due to strong competition from tier 2 local suppliers.
Envision ranks fourth in 2020, moving up from the fifth position in 2019, by taking advantage of strong market growth in its home market, where more than 10 GW was installed by the company in a single year, a record for the company.
Although Siemens Gamesa had installations in 31 markets last year, the manufacturer fell three positions to fifth place. The company reported 8.7 GW of new installations in 2020, 1.2 GW lower than the previous year, primarily due to a relatively slow year of offshore wind in Europe. Nevertheless, Siemens Gamesa retains its title as the world’s largest offshore wind turbine supplier in 2020.
| 2020 Preliminary Ranking | Turbine OEM | Installations in 2020* | Change | Commentary |
| 1 | Vestas | 16,186 MW | – | Remains in lead for fifth year in a row |
| 2 | GE Renewable Energy | 14,135 MW | +2 | Moving up two positions from 4th position in 2019 |
| 3 | Goldwind | 13,606 MW | – | Remains in 3rd position for second year running |
| 4 | Envision | 10,717 MW | +1 | Up from 5th position in 2019 |
| 5 | Siemens Gamesa | 8,678 MW | -3 | Down from 2nd position in 2019 |
These rankings will be published in the Global Wind Market Development ― Supply Side Data 2020, which will be released in late April 2021. Preliminary results are subject to change between now and the release date of the actual report.
“Our preliminary findings from the supply side confirm that 2020 was an incredible year for the wind industry. Chinese and American turbine manufacturers had a record of new installations that saw most of them moving up in global turbine OEM market rankings,” said Feng Zhao, Head of Strategy and Market Intelligence at GWEC. “This makes sense as it reflects the situation that the world’s two largest markets China and United States had the lion’s share in global wind installation in 2020.”
