Wind turbine manufacturers installed a record 127 GW of new wind power capacity in 2024, with 29 different wind turbine suppliers mechanically installing 23 098 units, despite challenging macroeconomic pressures, rising commodity and capital costs and prolonged supply chain disruptions.

This is according to wind energy sector association the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) ‘Supply Side Data’ report.

Additionally, the wind industry continues to set new yearly installation records and will continue to do so in the coming years, according to GWEC forecasts.

However, industry and governments must work together to remove structural barriers, improve market design and develop procurement mechanisms to accelerate and install "the second terawatt of wind power", it says.

“Governments need to urgently take action to kick-start a much faster transition to renewables and remove barriers to deployment and investment. This means cutting red tape and bureaucracy, fast-tracking grid investments and ensuring that markets adequately remunerate green energy instead of subsidising fossil fuels,” says GWEC CEO Ben Backwell.

“The global energy transition is taking shape, but the pace at which it is delivered is in our control. We can rapidly deploy wind energy, and deliver the benefits of a clean, secure and abundant energy system if we scale up investment and reach the right level of installations, or 380 GW a year, by the end of this decade.

“That acceleration will come by clearing supply chain bottlenecks, correcting poor market design and delivering project certainty. The industry can help accelerate deployment,” he says.

This new record in installations is a testimony to the key role wind energy is playing in delivering the energy transition, he adds.

The 29 wind turbine manufacturers consist of 18 companies from the Asia Pacific region, 8 from Europe, 2 from the US and 1 from the Middle East.

During 2024, Chinese wind turbine manufacturers continued to increase their share of total installations owing to strong growth in their home market. For the first time, the global top 4 wind turbine suppliers came from China, with Denmark’s Vestas rounding out the top five.

Meanwhile, another theme seen in this year’s report is the continuing upward trend in wind turbine rating.

The global average rated capacity of new turbines installed in 2024 reached almost 5 500 kW, which is 9%, or 435 kW, higher than in 2023.

The average onshore wind turbine size in 2024 surpassed the 5 000 kW milestone while the average wind turbine size for offshore wind reached 9 815 kW.

This upward trend is primarily owing to larger onshore turbines being installed in China and more offshore wind turbines with a power rating greater than 10 MW being installed globally, the GWEC says.

Further, medium-speed (or hybrid-drive) wind turbines continued to gain popularity in 2024, with the technology’s global market share increasing from 25% in 2023 to 29.1% in 2024.

This was primarily owing to China-based turbine supplier Goldwind switching drivetrain technology from PMG Direct Drive to medium speed. Medium-speed turbines accounted for 89% of its total installations in 2024.

Combining the market share of conventional high-speed drive with medium-speed drive, the global market share of geared-drive systems in 2024 is 91.3%, which is the same as the previous year.

Additionally, the diameter of wind turbine rotors continues to grow, with rotors larger than 180 m now becoming the mainstream product, accounting for 58.6% of global market share in 2024, compared with 42.9% in 2023, the GWEC report shows.

“The 127 GW capacity of wind turbines that was mechanically installed worldwide, despite a year of diverse challenges, is a clear sign of the resilience and continuing upward trajectory of the global wind industry,” says GWEC chief research officer Feng Zhao.