Global wind turbine order intake reached new highs in H1 2024, with 91.2 gigawatts (GW) of activity, a 23% increase year-over-year, thanks to the Asia-Pacific region.
Globally, investment by wind energy developers in H1 2024 totaled $42 billion, a 3% increase year-over-year, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie. Much of that activity occurred in Q2, which saw 66 GW of wind turbine order intake, due in large part to demand in China’s northern region.
In fact, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for a whopping 85% of global intake in the first half of 2024. China saw 70 GW of orders for its domestic market and captured 5 GW of wind turbine orders abroad. Developers in India made great strides in the first half as well, yielding a 69% increase year-over-year.
India’s Envision was the leader for overall order intake, followed by China’s Windey and Goldwind, all with more than 12 GW of activity.
However, Western wind turbine OEMs struggled due to intensifying competition over more modest demand and contributed just 13% of global order intake in H1. In total, order intake outside of China decreased 16% (-2.3 GW) in the first half. Intake in the Americas and Europe dropped 42% year-over-year, with less than 10 GW combined ordered in H1.
“Chinese OEMs continue to break records for order intake on activity both domestically and aboard,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.
“Conversely, western OEMs are struggling to keep pace, challenged by China’s competitive advantages in pricing and availability. Soft demand in Western markets as well as policy uncertainty, inflation, and other cost pressures have also driven down activity in the US and Europe. China remains the undisputed leader in the industry.”
While global onshore order activity increased in the first half, the offshore sector struggled, with order intake decreasing 38% year-over-year through the first half (-4.1 GW) as challenging project economics have curbed the market.
“The offshore market has almost 30 GW of conditional orders globally, 21 GW of which are for projects in Europe and the US, but challenging economics continue to delay conversion into firm orders,” said Lewandowski.
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Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
XCMG battery swap crane; via Etrucks New Zealand.
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
As “extreme” weather events become more commonplace, the demand for reliable and portable energy continues to rise. In response to that growing demand for dependable off-grid power, Volvo has developed the new PU500 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) designed to take electrical power when it’s needed most.
Designed to be deployable in a number of environments at a moment’s notice, the Volvo Energy PU500 BESS is equipped with approximately 500 kWh of usable battery capacity (up to 540 kWh total). More than enough juice, in other words, to power a remote construction site, disaster response effort, or even a music festival – anything that needs access to reliable electricity beyond a grid connection.
That’s great, but what sets the PU500 apart from other battery storage solutions is its integrated 240 kW DC fast charger.
“With an integrated CCS2 charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all brands of electric equipment, trucks, and passenger cars,” says Niklas Thulin, Head of BESS Product Offer at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that no matter what type of electric vehicle or machinery you rely on, the PU500 can provide the power you need, making it a truly flexible solution for any grid constrained site or location.”
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The integrated charger in the PU500 has the impressive ability to charge a heavy equipment asset (be that an electric semi truck or something like a wheel loader) in under two hours. Its on-board capacity allows to fully recharge up to 3 electric HD trucks or 20 electric cars per day, making it an incredibly versatile disaster response asset.