Nordex: the recipe for a miraculous recovery

When, at the end of 2022, all Western turbine manufacturers were suffering million-euros losses and publishing plans to emerge from the crisis, few would have bet on the smallest OEM and, in theory, the one in the most delicate position: Nordex. But against all odds, Nordex has proven to be the star pupil in the difficult subject of “getting back into the black”.

 

A long and winding road

 

 

It all started five years ago with COVID. After the shutdown and rebound at the end of 2020, the descent into hell began in a whirlwind of rising raw material prices, price wars, geopolitical instability, energy crises and management mistakes by manufacturers. Nordex hit rock bottom in early 2023, and since then, its recovery has been remarkable.

 

In today’s article, we will take a closer look at the keys to this recovery.

 

 

High marks in the June 2025 results

 

The 2Q25 results confirm the positive data from recent quarters, demonstrating that the recovery is sustainable and built on solid foundations.

 

 

Looking at the evolution over the last 22 quarters, we can see a sustained improvement in margins, with the last five quarters showing a positive net profit. One might think that this improvement has been achieved by sacrificing volume, but in Nordex’s case this has not been the case, as revenues have also increased.

 

 

This translates into one of the ratios most valued by financiers: cash generation.  Nordex has generated positive free cash flow in six of the last seven quarters. This is very important considering that the company does not have as strong a support base as some of its competitors and therefore its ability to survive while losing money is not as long as SGRE or GE.

 

Are all OEMs recovering profitability?

 

No. In fact, of the Western companies, only Vestas and Nordex are profitable, while SiemensGamesa and GE Vernova continue to suffer millions in losses.

 

 

It is curious how Nordex’s performance is much more stable and sustained than Vestas, which suffers significant ups and downs, while Nordex improves little by little but relentlessly, or as Jeff Bezos would say, “Gradatim Ferociter“.

 

The ingredients for success

The formula for recovery is no secret. In fact, all manufacturers have set out to follow it, but only Nordex has achieved the perfect blend of execution, timing and discipline. Let’s look at the four basic ingredients

 

1. Simplify the product catalogue

Reducing product variants and offering fewer but highly competitive models reduces complexity and costs and improves reliability.

 

 

Nordex’s product strategy has been clear: focus on the Delta4000 platform. Although this platform has models from different generations, they are all based on the same technological concept and are based on evolutions.

 

The idea is to change only what is necessary to launch larger rotors and improve reliability, but without making major changes that would require starting from scratch.

 

Another area where Nordex has excelled is in its approach to tailoring products to the target market, as exemplified by its own highly developed hybrid towers, which are in high demand in strategic markets such as Germany. This brings us to the next ingredient

 

2. Focus on strategic markets

 

Targeting the most profitable markets where there is a competitive advantage is the second key. In Nordex’s case, this market is Europe, and in recent quarters its focus has been total, reaching 100% of its order intake in Q2 2025, making it the No. 1 OEM in terms of order intake in EMEA.

 

 

Its strong commercial positioning in Europe, together with its product portfolio perfectly tailored to the needs of European developers, has led to the prioritisation of European contracts with lower risk and higher prices, which brings us to the next ingredient.

 

 

3. Raise prices (or at least don’t lower them)

 

Although this seems obvious, it has been one of the major issues in the sector (and for Nordex in particular). Not long ago, in order to ensure volume and secure strategic contracts, prices were lowered to suicidal levels, which led to the major crisis.

 

All manufacturers have greatly improved their discipline in not lowering prices, including Nordex.

 

 

Although ASP has its limitations, it indicates that Nordex has been raising its prices very slightly but steadily. Although it remains below Vestas (which already provides a combined ASP without breaking down onshore and offshore), it is clear that Nordex has maintained price discipline.

 

Once again, one might think that this discipline goes hand in hand with greater project selectivity, but as can be seen from the order intake data, Nordex has gone from being the manufacturer with the lowest order intake to surpassing Vestas in quaterly order intake for the first time ever.

 

 

4. Reduce costs

Nordex has pursued a strategy of strengthening its Asian production and purchasing hubs (China and India), thereby attempting to contain costs without affecting quality. It has also benefited from the slowdown in raw material and logistics costs. The downside of this policy is that European suppliers are forced to move their production to Asia if they want to maintain volumes. Once again, we see a clear case where European measures to encourage local content could reverse this trend if the OEM had advantages for buying locally. If these measures do not exist, companies such as Nordex legitimately seek out the most competitive suppliers.

 

This purchasing strategy, combined with higher prices, has resulted in material costs accounting for 78% of revenue in 2024, compared to 85% in 2023.

 

5. Powering services

 

After-sales services are the biggest source of profitability in the sector. All manufacturers try to maintain their high margins while growing their O&M business. In Nordex’s case, this was one of its major weak points. Years ago, it was operating at low levels in terms of both revenue and margin in its services business, but in recent quarters, there has been a clear improvement:

 

 

Furthermore, there is still considerable room for improvement, as not long ago Vestas and SGRE were operating with margins of over 20% in this business.

 

And the final touch: parsley and a little luck

 

No matter how good it is, any plan requires a bit of luck to be successful. In Nordex’s case, there are two factors that have greatly helped it to, as Hannibal Smith said, “make the plans work”:

 

• SGRE’s commercial pause: SGRE’s hiatus has undoubtedly provided a flood of opportunities for Nordex. In addition, GE has focused on the US market, meaning that projects in Europe have faced less competition in recent years. We will see if the revival of 4.X and 5.X sales is reflected in Nordex’s order data in the coming quarters.

 

• Onshore boom in Germany: having your local market in full swing is a very important advantage. If, in addition, markets where Nordex was weak, such as the US, are in crisis, then all the better.

 

But as the famous saying goes, “luck favours the prepared,” so this does not detract in any way from the merits of the entire team led by Jose Luis Blanco, who have done a tremendous job in defying all the forecasts, making Nordex the OEM of the moment in the sector and continuing to excel in terms of revenue per employee.

 

And for dessert, some ambitious targets

 

If we look at Nordex’s targets, it is clear that we are still on track, as the goal is to achieve 8% EBITDA in the medium term, although the guidelines for 2025 already place it in the 5-7% range.

 

 

Few will doubt that the Nordex team can achieve these goals after seeing what they have already accomplished. Congratulations on everything you have achieved so far, and keep Gradatim Ferociter!