Vestas Wind Systems overtook Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. as the top manufacturer of wind turbines in 2016, managing to install 8.53 Gigawatt (GW) compared to Xinjiang Goldwind’s 6.37 GW, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company, which recently released a report exploring the wind turbine market, states that Vestas’ strong performance throughout all regions and particularly high activity levels in the US, Brazil, Canada, and Argentina, helped it take the top spot this year. The Vestas US market witnessed strong deliveries of around 3.94 GW and an order intake of around 3.5 GW, facilitating considerable future potential.

Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s Practice Head for Power, explains: “It was a record year for Vestas in terms of revenues, earnings before interest and taxes margin, net profit, free cash flow, order intake, and combined order backlog.

“Indeed, the company holds a strong global footprint, which has helped it attain profitability in mature and emerging markets. Vestas has also made considerable headway in its multi-brand service capabilities through the acquisition of Germany-based service provider Availon Holding GmbH.

“In tandem with the company’s various successes, Vestas was also helped to the top spot by the harsh market environment faced by former leader Xinjiang Goldwind, which saw company revenues drop by 8.5% from last year. The Chinese wind power market in which the company operates faced deterioration in 2016 due to a fall in installations caused by the National Development and Reform Commission slashing wind energy benchmarket tariffs.”

GE Power took third place in the rankings, with installed capacity of 5.87 GW in 2016. The company’s acquisition of LM Wind Power will enhance its ability to increase energy output and provide value creation for its onshore and offshore customers. In addition, the company’s new 3.6 Megawatt (MW) and 3.8 MW models joined hands with its 3 MW wind turbine platform. 

Subsequently ranked manufacturers included Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica with 4.04 GW, and Enercon GmbH with 3.83 GW. Siemens AG is another company which was ousted from its 2015 ranking, moving from second to sixth, while Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica moved up from eighth to fourth.

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