Vestas Wind Systems is a Danish company that manufactures, sells, installs and services wind turbines. The company is the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer. Recently, due to growing competition, its share in the global market has decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009. The company has offices in Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, the UK, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Australia, China and the US, and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. From the beginning of 1980 to 2004, Vestas Danich Wind Technology installed approximately 11,000 wind power plants worldwide.
History
Vestas can trace its roots back to 1898, when Hand Smith Hansen bought a blacksmith shop in Lem, West Jutland, which was operating as a family business. After the Second World War, Vestas was founded in 1945 by his son Peder Hansen as “Vestjysk Stålteknik A/S” (West Jutland Steel Technology). Initially, the company manufactured household appliances, shifting its focus to agricultural equipment in 1950, intercoolers in 1956, and hydraulic cranes in 1968. It entered the wind turbine industry in 1979 and has produced wind turbines exclusively since 1989. In 1997, the company launched the NTK 1500/60. The product was designed by Timothy Jacob Jensen and won the German IF Award and the Red Dot Award. The North American headquarters of the company was moved in 2002 from Palm Springs, California to Portland, Oregon.
In 2003, the company merged with Danish wind turbine manufacturer NEG Micon to create the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer under the Vestas Wind Systems brand. After a decline in sales and operating losses in 2005, Vestas recovered in 2006 with a market share of 28% and increased production, although the market share declined between 12.5% and 14%.
“Vestas launched an awareness program in 2007, among the first in Denmark.
On December 1, 2008, Vestas announced plans to expand its North American headquarters in Portland by constructing a new 600,000 square foot (56,000 m2) building, but this plan was scrapped in 2009 due to the economic downturn, and in August 2010, the company announced a revised plan, scaled down to scale, to expand its Portland headquarters by renovating an existing but vacant 172,000 square foot (16,000 m2) building. At the time, Vestas employed about 400 in Portland and committed to adding at least another 100 workers there within five years; the new building would have room for up to 600 workers. In May 2012, the company moved its Portland offices to a new headquarters building, a restored historic building.
In February 2009, the company announced the production of two new types of turbines, the 3-megawatt V112 and the 1.8-megawatt V100. The new models were to be available in 2010.
In July 2009, Vestas announced that its production operations on the Isle of Wight in England would be closed due to lack of demand in the UK, affecting 525 jobs there and 100 in Southampton. About 25 workers at the wind turbine plant on the island occupied the administrative offices in protest on July 20, 2009, demanding nationalization to save their jobs.
In August 2009, Vestas hired more than 5,000 additional workers for its new plants in China, the US and Spain. The company stated that it is “expanding strongly in China and the US as these markets are growing the fastest, in contrast to the sluggish pace of wind farm development in the UK”. As part of this gradual shift in production from Europe to China and the US, in October 2010 the company announced that it was closing five plants in Denmark and Sweden, with the loss of 3,000 jobs.
In November 2010, Vestas discontinued the 70-person Vestas Excellence advisory department responsible for competitiveness, supplier services, quality assurance and globalization.
In May 2013, Marika Fredriksson became the company’s new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer after her predecessor, Dag Andresen, resigned for personal reasons. Her strategy is to return Vestas to higher earnings after the significant losses the company has faced: from a €166 million loss in 2011 and increasing to €963 million in 2012.
In September 2013, Vestas formed an offshore wind joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, creating MHI-Vestas, including the 7-9 MW Vestas V164, the most powerful turbine on Earth.
In May 2014, Vestas announced that it would add hundreds of jobs to its Colorado facilities in Windsor and Brighton, and after a rough 2012, called 2013 one of its “best years ever.” Vestas also added employees in Pueblo and expected the tower to eventually exceed 500. “Vestas stated that it planned to employ 2,800 workers in Colorado by the end of 2014. As of 2016, Vestas has a nacelle production capacity of 2.6 GW in the US.
In March 2015, Vestas announced that it would increase the number of jobs by 400 at its Windsor blade manufacturing plant and stated: “We had a very successful 2014”. In 2015, almost half of all Vestas turbines went to the US market (almost 3 GW for the US out of 7.5 GW worldwide). Vestas intends to build a blade factory in India in 2016.
In 2014 and 2015, 26 unscrupulous employees were reported under the company’s whistleblower program (the first in Denmark) and were penalized.
In February 2016, Vestas received the largest order of 1000 MW (278 x 3.6 MW) for the Fosen project near Trondheim in Norway. This is worth DKK 11 billion and should deliver 3.4 TWW per year.
In Q1 2016, the average price of a wind turbine was €0.83 million per MW, compared to €0.91 a year earlier.
In 2016, Vestas was recognized as number 7 in the Clean200 list.
In 2019, MHI-Vestas received a supply and operation vessel for the Deutsche Bucht offshore wind project, with two more ships planned for other projects.
In June 2022, during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the company terminated the investment contract with Russia. The shipyard fulfilled its plan for 2022 and had no contract for 2023.