Wind Turbine Manufacturers Hit Turbulence as Machine Prices Fall
- GE’s earnings from renewables plunged 72% in the third quarter
- Siemens Gamesa has met 2018 targets, and Vestas is on track
The shakeout in wind turbine manufacturing industry is starting to produce winners and losers after increasing competition gutted margins.
Wind is one of the lowest-cost forms of energy generation and getting cheaper, with turbine prices down more than 50 percent in the past decade. That has hurt profit and spurred gloomier market outlooks from wind machinery makers from General Electric Co. to Vestas Wind Systems A/S.
Some companies are weathering this better than others. GE said last month that its renewables unit’s operating profit fell 72 percent in the the third quarter even though it sold more units. Vestas maintained its full-year outlook despite missing some earnings estimates in the third quarter. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA rallied after the Spanish-German company’s earnings met its 2018 guidance. Nordex SE reports on Nov. 13.