Vestas Boasts Record Backlog as U.S. Helps to Drive Growing Demand for Wind Turbines

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Aarhus, Denmark) hit a record order backlog in second-quarter 2015, the global wind turbine manufacturer and service provider said Wednesday. The U.S., Mexico and Chile contributed to a 56% increase in order intake from a year earlier, according to the company. Industrial Info is tracking 75 active wind power projects, worth $14.89 billion, that include Vestas products.

Back orders for wind turbines and service agreements totaled 16.9 billion euro ($18.8 billion) as of June 30. The wind-turbine order backlog amounted to 8.8 billion euro ($9.8 billion), while service agreements, with an average duration of eight years, totaled 8.1 billion euro ($9 billion).

Vestas' intake of "firm and unconditional" wind turbine orders totaled 3,018 megawatts (MW) in the quarter. Orders from the U.S., Mexico, Germany, Chile and the U.K.'s 400-MW Rampion offshore wind project accounted for nearly 80% of the intake, the company reported. U.S. order intake totaled 1.7 gigawatts for the year through the second quarter, as well as announced intake for the third quarter.

E.ON (XETRA:EOAN) (Düsseldorf, Germany) is building the $2 billion Rampion offshore windfarm, to be located off the southern coast of England. For related information, see May 21, 2015, article - E.ON to Build Rampion Offshore Windfarm in U.K..

Vestas has a business presence in 27 countries. During the first half of 2015, product deliveries totaled 2,872 MW, up 35%. Deliveries in the Americas totaled 1,387 MW, up 85%.

Vestas sells 2-MW and 3-MW turbines. Chief Executive Officer Anders Runevad said during a conference call that the company's 3-MW turbines are taking a greater share in the U.S., where 2-MW turbines have traditionally held sway.

Runevad also said the global regulatory environment has been good, with the exception of the U.K., where the government is ending support of onshore windfarms earlier than planned. In the U.S., the wind energy sector is getting positive signals from Congress, where a key Senate committee has voted to renew the expired production tax credit, he said. For more information, see July 29, 2015, article - U.K. Cuts Renewables Support, Backs Nuclear.

Industrial Info is tracking 64 projects that include Vestas products and are in the engineering and construction phases; while the remaining 11 projects being tracked are in the planning stages, where a variety of factors could alter their outcome. With three projects valued at nearly $3.7 billion, the U.K. is No. 1 in project spending.

Vestas reported second-quarter 2015 net profit of 125 million euro ($139 million), up 33% from second-quarter 2014. Revenue for the second quarter totaled 1.7 billion euro ($1.9 billion), up 30% from a year earlier. Total investments, primarily for blade molds and capitalized research and development (R&D), amounted to 79 million euro ($88 million), up 44% from a year earlier.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.