2015 Wind Installations Show Two Markets: China and Everybody Else

The figures for 2015 wind installations are in and they show two major trends. First, wind capacity continues to be installed at a major rate globally. Second, there are effectively two wind markets: China and the rest of the world.

In 2015, 63,135 MW of wind power capacity was added globally, a 23.2% increase from the 51,230 MW installed in 2014. On a cumulative basis, global wind power capacity grew to 434,109 MW from 372,381 MW in the prior year. This is according to the most recent and 21 annual global installation figures compiled in Guidehouse Insights’ World Wind Energy Market Update 2016 report.

Markets New and Old

Growth occurred in almost every wind market, from the long-established European countries to new markets in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. North America and Latin America combined installed 14.5 GW in 2015, representing 23.0% of global capacity and just slightly overtaking Europe by a percentage point. The United States led with 8,598 MW of new wind capacity added in 2015 thanks to a building boom sustained by reinstated tax credits. Brazil followed with the most capacity in the Americas; its reverse auction system to award wind power purchase price contracts has proven very effective at supporting gigawatt-level installations on a yearly basis at competitively low contract prices.

Europe represented 22.1% of new global capacity with 13.9 GW in 2015, up from 12.1 GW in 2014. Germany saw the greatest increase, driven by major offshore wind capacity additions of 2.4 GW and a rush for developers to install onshore projects before incentives shifted to a more limited system in 2016. Record installations were seen in Poland, followed by substantial new capacity in France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and over a dozen other countries.

China in the Lead

The degree to which the Asian markets—and China in particular—are driving wind demand cannot be overstated. The combined markets of South and East Asia represented 52.6% of global wind power capacity in 2015, up from 50.6% in 2014. Almost all of this annual record was driven by China, which installed a remarkable 30,293 MW, up from a record 23,300 MW in 2014, which itself was an incredible achievement. However, this increase has not improved China’s wind curtailment challenge, which worsened from approximately 9% wind curtailed in 2014 to around 15% curtailed in 2015.

China provides its wind developers and wind plant owners with feed-in tariffs (FITs), which are set prices per kilowatt-hour produced and levels varying according to wind speed location. The huge build in 2015 was partly driven by a minor adjustment downward of the rates beginning January 1, 2016, so wind developers rushed to bring capacity online before the rate adjustment. However, the rate drop is minor, so annual capacity installations above 20 GW are expected again for 2016 and in the near term.

Another notable market dynamic driven by China is that there is effectively a two-part global wind market splitting China and the rest of the world. This is not only in total capacity installed in a given year but in the underlying wind turbine supplier dynamics. China sourced 97% of its turbines from more than 23 Chinese wind turbine OEMs, shutting out all but a few Western turbine OEMs. Conversely, all installations throughout the rest of the world were around 97% supplied by over 18 Western and Indian wind turbine companies, and almost no Chinese suppliers.

This shows China’s overwhelming preference for its domestic vendors. Markets and developers outside of China have responded in kind by sourcing very few turbines from Chinese suppliers. Expect this dynamic to slowly shift as some of China’s more proven suppliers seek international diversification to offset a Chinese market slowdown and wind turbine manufacturing overcapacity in the country.