Vestas has received a firm and unconditional order for 190 MW of 4 MW platform turbines in the U.S. that takes Vestas’ global order intake in 2017 to 10,595 MW, surpassing 2016’s record order intake of 10,494 MW. The 2017 order intake is based on announced orders in all four quarters of 2017 as well as unannounced orders in the first three quarters of 2017. Unannounced MW of orders received in the fourth quarter of 2017 will be disclosed in the annual report in February 2018.
The development, construction, and operation of these turbines will deliver substantial economic impact for both the local and state economies, including funds from additional tax revenue, landowner payments and other contributions to the local community, and the creation of both part-time and full-time permanent local jobs. In 2016, the wind industry added jobs nine times faster than the overall U.S. economy, and today there are more than 102,000 wind workers.
This surge of orders at the end of the year has resulted in the company revising its guidance for free cashflow upwards. It now expects the free cashflow for 2017 to be €1.15bn-€1.25bn, as compared with the previous guidance of €450m-€900m. Markets have reacted very favourably to the announcements with the company share price experiencing a significant increase of 5%. However, this is still well below the peak from last year, due to the concern from investors about the US possibly ending its subsidies for wind power.
Vestas designs, manufactures, installs, and services wind turbines across the globe, and with 87 GW of wind turbines in 76 countries, it has installed more wind power than anyone else. Through its industry-leading smart data capabilities and more than 73 GW of wind turbines under service, it uses data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Vestas has more than 22,700 employees worldwide and is one of the companies spearheading the energy transition.
Image: Courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems A/S