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The booming global demand for wind turbines is showing no
signs of abating after Vestas and Siemens Power
Generation both announced major new orders.
Denmark-based Vestas
announced yesterday that it has received orders for a total
of 61 turbines from four projects in Spain. Work is expected
to begin on the four wind farms before the end of the year.
The order from an undisclosed Spanish utility requires Vestas
to supply, install, commission and maintain the turbines,
which, combined, will provide 128MW of capacity - enough energy
for 74,000 Spanish households.
Juan Araluce, president of Vestas Mediterranean A/S, said
the deal would further strengthen the company's position in
Spain, which has emerged as one of Europe's leading generators
of wind energy.
The deal comes a week after Siemens
Power Generation announced two major US orders for
its wind turbines. In two of the biggest deals of its type,
the company announced it had received an order for 141 turbines
from the Portland General Electric Company for a wind farm
in Oregon and an order for 130 turbines from Cascade Wind
Acquisition for two wind farms in Washington State. The company
said the combined deals are worth $1.1bn and the turbines
will provide enough energy for approximately 190,000 households.
"Wind power is a rapidly-growing source of electricity
in the US and the two major orders from Washington and Oregon
will strengthen our position as one of the leading suppliers
to the world's largest market for wind turbines" - said
Andreas Nauen, head of Siemens' wind business - adding that
the deals also highlighted the Pacific North West's emergence
as "one of the most dynamic regions for wind power development
in the world".
Meanwhile, Vestas is currently seeking to address some of
the supply chain constraints that have dogged wind turbine
manufacturers in recent years as demand for their products
has increased. The company is hosting its Global Suppliers
Day in Tianjin, China and is expected to tell over 300 of
its suppliers of the importance of embracing environmental
sustainability and process management best practices such
as Six Sigma.
Vestas chief executive Ditlev Engel said the aim of the conference
was to encourage a "two-way constructive dialogue"
to ensure the various challenges facing the fast expanding
wind industry can be met.
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