China pushes wind power to a new record

Wind power received 44 GW in global orders in the fourth quarter of 2022, 134.6 GW for fiscal year 2022.
Global order intake for wind turbines reached new records in 2022. 44 GW were purchased in the fourth quarter and 134.6 GW in the year, both new record volumes. Dominated by activity in China, annual investment reached about $74.2 billion, according to a new analysis by consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Overall, order intake increased 90% yoy in Q4 and 30% yoy, with China accounting for 65% of Q4 order capacity and 70% of all order capacity in 2022. This activity was driven by the positioning of developers to comply with the 14th five-year plan, which highlights the development of green energy in the Asian country.

According to Wood Mac, while China has had a huge impact on global order capacity, order intake outside of China is down 15% year-over-year. There were 41 GW, about 9 GW below the four-year average.
The consultancy explained that this performance by China somewhat masked a slowdown in Western wind turbine manufacturers such as Vestas, GE and Siemens Gamesa, which have been hit by supply chain challenges and cost increases. This had a negative impact on both new order intake and installation activity outside of China.

Another big market is in North America, where order intake in this region was relatively stable compared to the previous year, up 7%, but the backlog is positive. The consultancy indicates that it is possible to see the reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act, with orders for the second semester increasing 224% in relation to the first semester in the US.

Offshore wind also hit new records in 2022, reaching 19 GW of order intake. However, 80% of the activity came from China. Chinese OEMs Envision, Mingyang and Goldwind topped the 2022 order intake ranking with more than 17 GW each.