GE and Vestas Dominate the Wind Turbine Market

With a record 48.4GW of new capacity added worldwide, 2012 was an excellent year for the wind energy sector. The United States proved especially successful with the expected lapse of crucial wind subsidies initiating a rush towards wind farm development.

That proved very important to General Electric, who ended year as the world’s premier wind turbine manufacturer, ahead of Vestas from Denmark. By the end of 2012, GE had a 15.5 percent market share while Vestas had 14 percent. German manufacturer Siemens Wind Power rounds off the top three, with 9.5 percent of the market.

Meanwhile, global wind power capacity has reached 283 GW. While market consolidation led to a Chinese slowdown, growth was strongly driven by the subsidy issue in the United States. Germany, India and the United Kingdom also recorded increases in turbine construction.