Wind turbine orders globally fall 30% Y/Y in H1 2012

Jul 26, 2012 - Wind turbine orders worldwide dropped by 30% in megawatt terms in the first half of 2012 compared with same period last year, according to MAKE Consulting.

The research firm said the decline was due to slow performance in key markets in Asia Pacific and Europe, which offset solid growth in new emerging markets. China, India, the UK and Germany's offshore sector showed particular weakness against the backdrop of regulatory uncertainty, subsidy reductions and grid connectivity issues. The Americas performed well as US developers sought to beat the expiration of the production tax credit at the end of 2012 and there were also strong orders in several markets in Latin America.

MAKE Consulting, however, said that global orders could pick up in 2013 and beyond. The more than 11 GW of capacity agreed in framework deals and 18 GW of conditional orders point to a potential for recovery should conditional orders become firm, according to the firm. Still, it said the weakness in the first half of 2012 fueled its expectation that installations will have a weaker year in 2013, forecasting a decline of 5% compared with 2011.

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