In 2012, General Electric became the leader in market share for global wind turbines, Navigant Consulting Inc.’s BTM Consult unit said Monday. BTM Consult is a forecasting and data source for the international wind energy industry and part of Navigant’s Global Energy practice.
GE Wind ascends from the No. 3 to the No. 1 position, boosted by the rush to capitalize on the U.S. Production Tax Credit, with more than 15% global market share in 2012.
Siemens AG rose to third from ninth, Enercon GmbH gained to fourth from fifth and Suzlon Energy Ltd. rose to fifth from sixth, BTM said, based on preliminary data. The final ranking is due late next month, it said. It didn’t provide percentage shares.
GE takes over the top ranking from Denmark-based Vestas, which first took the top spot in 2000 when it supplanted NEG Micon A/S, a Danish rival that it later bought. Vestas last week posted its second consecutive annual net loss and said it’s in the middle of two “extremely difficult years,” during which it’s cutting about 30% of its workforce, Bloomberg.com reported.
The U.S. installed a record 13,124 megawatts of wind power in 2012, according to figures released Jan. 30 by the American Wind Energy Association, an industry lobby group. The annual total surpasses the previous record of 10,000 MW installed in 2010 and, for the first time, wind energy became the number one source of new U.S. electric generating capacity, accounting for 42% of all new generating capacity.
The U.S. market last year was boosted as project developers rushed plans to completion to take advantage of a tax credit that was scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, and which Congress didn’t renew until Jan. 1.
Although policy uncertainty plagued a number of key markets – including Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, the UK, the U.S., India, Australia and Japan – 2012 saw record global installations, driven by China and the U.S., together comprising more than 60% of the global market, according to the report.
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