Wind hits record: 62GW installed in 2015

China’s extraordinary growth beats analyst predictions with 29GW installed

London and New York, 1 February 2016 – Global wind installs reached a record 62GW in 2014, with more than 4GW of offshore build. This represents over 25% growth from the previous year. Offshore wind installations were up more than four-fold from 2014, and more than twice the previous record set in 2013. Onshore wind also had a record year with 58GW, up over 20% from the previous record set last year.

  • Onshore wind installations were driven in large part by China, which surpassed its previous record of 21GW by close to 40%, installing just under 29GW in 2015. That is nearly as much as the entire rest of the world combined. While China typically tops most clean energy lists, last year’s extraordinary surge surpassed most estimates and was due to developers rushing to complete projects to qualify for a more lucrative feed-in-tariff that expired at the end of last year.
  • In offshore wind, Germany led the way with 2.6GW of new capacity. The spike in Germany was mainly due to delays in 2014 to offshore converters. Germany was followed by the UK, which installed 1GW last year.

Nearly all of the capacity installed in China was supplied by Chinese manufacturers.  Goldwind dominated the market, accounting for over a quarter of China new build, with 7.7GW, followed by Guodian United Power with 2.9GW, and Envision and Ming Yang tied in third with 2.7GW.

“2015 was a fantastic year for the wind industry.” said Amy Grace, head of Wind Insight for Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  “China was by far the biggest surprise.  While it’s not atypical for China to lead in new energy installs, 29GW far exceeded our estimates.”

The US followed China in second place with 8.6GW, followed by Germany, India and Brazil with gross installs of 3.7GW, 2.6GW, and 2.6GW respectively.  Countries that missed targets include the US and UK, where several projects scheduled for 2015 slipped into Q1 2016.

CONTACT:

Jennifer MacDonald

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

+44 203 525 9332

jmacdonald29@bloomberg.net

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