How to Play 25 GW Chinese Annual Wind Capacity Increase for 38 Years – Sinovel and Goldwind

China adds around 100 GW of Electric Power Capacity each year to meet the growing energy demands of its population. Most of it is thermal power which is becoming costlier besides the dangerous disadvantages of coal. China has been trying to increase its hydro and nuclear power capacity, but nuclear energy has received a setback with Fukushima. Solar Power in  China is also increasing but it will take time as well to satisfy the electricity deficit. China is already the largest wind power market in the world installing almost 50% of the wind capacity in 2010.I t intends to keep up the furious pace of wind turbine installations at around 25 GW per year for the next 35 years to reach 1000 GW by 2050. China already has around 7 of the top 15 wind turbine producers. However a  vicious price war has thrown a lot of the wind producers into bankruptcy.

The large ones like Sinovel, Goldwind and possibly Ming Yang power will benefit from this purge.With plans for offshore wind power and increasing the wind farm capacity of its western provinces,wind turbine markers in China stand to benefit for a long time. Note Goldwind and Sinovel are listed on HK and Shanghai while Ming Yang is the only Chinese wind company listed in the USA. I don’t think foreign wind turbine producers would benefit too much as Chisese state owned companies like Datang prefer domestic wind makers. Though GE,Vestas,Suzlon and other are trying to expand in China ,don’t think their efforts would lead to too much in revenues.

Offshore Wind Power in China

China is now planning to set a target of 30 GW of Offshore Wind Energy by 2020 which means a 300x growth from its current installed base of only 100 MW.This will make it rival United Kingdom which aims to harvest massive amounts of electricity from its North Sea wind resource.Top Chinese Wind Energy Companies like Sinovel, Goldwind, Ming Yang have already developed or/are in the process of developing wind turbines of 5 MW capacity or more to target this fastest growing wind segment.  Sinovel the largest wind energy company in the world has already supplied the wind turbine for the Shanghai farm. Note top offshore wind companies like Siemens,Vestas are already jostling to take a first mover advantage in this technologically complex segment.Even non traditional players like the Korean shipmakers Daewoo,Samsung,Hyundai as well as US Defence Major Northrup Gruman are also preparing to take a slice of this upcoming multi billion industry.

List of Global Wind Turbine Companies

1) Vestas – Vestas the largest Wind Turbine Company in the World has been facing one setback after another.The Danish Company which used to be a Green Investor Favorite till a couple of years can’t seem to find a buyer these days.Stiff competition from China,Slowdown in Wind Energy Farms in the West and now  Wind Blade Problems have formed a perfect storm for this company.

2) General Electric (USA) – General Electric is looking to Invest Heavily in the new Age Green Industry like other Industrial Giants like Siemens,ABB etc.General Electric or GE as it is popularly known is one of the biggest players in the Green Industry globally.It generated $18 billion in Ecomagination revenues in 2009 with $1.5 Billion in Investment.General Electric like other industrial conglomerates like Siemens,Areva and others are in fact low risk plays in the Green Investing sector.GE is strong across most of the Green Sectors today particularly in the area of Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency.GE has a 40-50% marketshare of the US market which is the 2nd largest in the world.Due to its vertical integration,it has one of the highest margins in the industry and remains a formidable player with its acquisition Enron’s Wind Turbine arm proving to be a masterstroke.

3) Gamesa (Spain) – Gamesa the Spanish Wind Turbine Producer and Wind Farm Operator has faced the worst year of its history in 2010.Like Vestas and Suzlon,2010 has been a cruel year for the Wind Industry in the Western Markets and the WTG Players dependent on those markets.Gamesa is one of the worst performing Wind Energy Stocks in 2010.Gamesa is looking to restructure its operations and concentrating on the offshore wind market by focusing on higher megawatt turbines.Gamesa is leading a massive Spanish Research Effort to develop a colossal 15 MW Turbine meant for the fast growing offshore wind sector.But this is a long term plan with 2020 set as the target for the complete development of this new Turbine.Meanwhile Gamesa has become the target of takeover speculation by one of the bigger Chinese Wind Turbine players like Sinovel,Goldwind etc.Gamesa has seen its revenue fall by 28% and profits by  71% with Operating Margins of 4-5%.Things don’t look too good for 2011 either though Orders have started ticking up

4) Suzlon Energy is the biggest Indian Wind Energy Company by far with 4-5 Gigawatts of WTG Capacity per year.However Suzlon has languished in red ink since the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.The company started by Tulsi Tanti in 1995 was a shining example of Asian CleanTech with a 10% global marketshare and ranking amongst the top 5 Wind Turbine Makers .Suzlon buoyed by its success had bought controlling equity stakes in Turbine Gears producer Hansen Transmission and European Wind Turbine producer Repower.Suzlon seems to be recovering with increase in orders particularly at its German subsidiary RePower,however a huge debt burden poses problems.

5) Siemens – The largest Green Company in the world,Siemens has a strong presence in the Wind Turbine Segment.The company is strong in Europe and is now expanding to emerging markets like Asia.Given its huge technological strengths in electrical equipment,power transmission and large project construction,Siemens is looking for a dominant role in the growing offshore wind market as well.

6) Goldwind – The Wind Energy Market in China has witnessed the growth of almost 90 companies with little differentiation competing fiercely on prices.This has led to low to zero margins for most of these companies.Goldwind has managed to rise above the competition by becoming the single largest Chinese player and looks to takeover the No.1 position in the world in the next few years.By taking bold risks and with the support of the government,Goldwind has become a threat to the established Wind Turbine Order

7) Sinovel – The 2nd largest Chinese Wind Power Company managed to do a successful IPO in Hong Kong last year despite long delays.The company is looking to expand in the foreign markets particularly the US market and has gotten a local management to help it penetrate the newer market.

 Dongfang Electric – Dongfang Electric Corporation,China’s largest power equipment producer  is also the 3rd biggest Wind Turbine Producer in China as well .The company has managed to grow impressively like the rest of the Chinese and is looking to expand in foreign markets as well.Recently  bagged a 276 MW $203 million WTG supply contract with Abhijeet Group.

9) Ming Yang Power- Ming Yang is the only significant non-state owned Chinese Wind Energy Company with a 2009 marketshare of around 4%.The Company has a very short history installing its first Wind Turbine just 2 years ago and has seen an exponential growth riding on the incredible Wind Industry Growth in China.

10) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , the massive Japanese Conglomerate is looking to overseas market for growing its Wind Energy Division.Mitsubishi like other Japanese companies are looking towards Green Industry for growth.Japan already possesses solid strengths in this area with its traditional focus on resource efficiency.While companies like Panansonic and Toyota looks towards Electric Vehicles and Batteries,Sharp and Kyocera towards Wind Energy,Mitsubishi is focusing its energy on the Wind Sector.

11) Enercon – Enercon is a privately listed German company which has almost 22 GW of Wind Turbine Installations in the world.Enercon was the first company to build a gearless Wind Turbine which is one of the biggest innovation in the Wind Energy Industry in recent times.

12) Nordex – Nordex is another German company in the Wind Turbine Industry which was the first one to build a 1 MW Turbine.The company has  not managed to grow fast as the other German companies like Enercon,RePower and Siemens.

13) United Technologies Corporation (UTC) – This US Giant Technology Conglomerate is still a small player in the World Wind Power Market.However it has increased its footprint by acquiring struggling independent US Wind Power company Clipper.