As of the end of last year, CS WIND, which mainly manufactures the tower part of wind turbines, had a backlog of orders amounting to $1.354 billion (approximately 1.984 trillion won), a decrease of nearly 30% compared to the previous year ($1.914 billion).
In contrast, during the same period, the order backlog of Taewoong, another wind equipment company, increased from 113.483 billion won to 140.451 billion won, while UNISON's rose from 111.893 billion won to 137.04 billion won, showing an increase of 22-23%.
The order backlog refers to the total amount of contracts that a corporation has received but has not yet completed. It is one of the important indicators for gauging future sales.
On the 3rd, by compiling the 2024 business reports of each company, it was confirmed that the order trends of the three mid-sized wind companies showed diverging results.
This seems to have been influenced by the dependency on the U.S. market. Last year, CS WIND generated nearly 2 trillion won out of more than 3 trillion won in sales from the United States, which accounts for 64%.
The recently inaugurated Donald Trump administration is sharply reversing the eco-friendly policies of former President Joe Biden. The wind industry, which benefited during the Biden era, particularly faces a challenging environment.
President Trump declared on Jan. 20 (local time) that he would halt new wind power projects under federal jurisdiction through an executive order immediately after his inauguration. It is assessed that essentially all offshore wind projects have been suspended.
It is well illustrated by CS WIND announcing in early March that its contract for supplying wind turbine structures to a U.S. offshore wind farm had been canceled. Although the company did not disclose the contract amount, industry insiders believe it would not be small. This order was expected to be reflected in sales starting in 2026.
On the other hand, Taewoong and UNISON, which had poor performance, increased their orders focusing on the European and domestic markets, respectively.
Taewoong secured new wind orders worth 53 billion won in the last quarter, which accounts for more than a third of its order backlog at the end of last year. This includes components (flanges) for offshore wind substructures in the European region, which are expected to be recognized as sales over the first to third quarters of this year.
The European region is known to have strong demand for the wind substructure market. This is why CS WIND has entered the offshore wind substructure market after wind towers.
Taewoong, a forging specialist that shapes metals by hammering or stretching them, generates 44.7% of its total revenue from offshore wind. It diversifies its business into industrial machinery (15.9%), industrial plants (14.5%), and shipbuilding and marine engines (16.2%).
UNISON, which manufactures wind turbine turbines, has been operating at a loss for six consecutive quarters, but it has recently succeeded in developing a 10 megawatt offshore wind turbine and is on the verge of commercialization this year.
In addition, the government is pushing for public-led offshore wind bidding from May. The goal is to install 25 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Expectations for improving the performance of UNISON, which mainly focuses on the domestic market, are emerging.