2003: V90 and merger with NEG Micon
With approximately 8,000 MW installed on a global scale, the wind turbine industry enjoys growth of a little over ten per cent. Supplying of a total of 1,812 MW means that Vestas continues its success and achieves a market share of 23 per cent.
The German market remains the largest in the world, even though it drops from 3,250 MW to 2,675 MW. Despite the decline, Vestas manages to increase its market share from 18 to 23 per cent.
One of the larger orders is a delivery of 117 units of V47-660 kW turbines to an Egyptian wind farm located approximately 200 km southeast of Cairo by the Red Sea. There are also two large orders for MW-turbines from Australia and the USA. On the offshore front, Vestas is selected as the supplier of 30 units of V80-2.0 MW turbines for the Scroby Sands project to be established off the east coast of England. Vestas thus wins the second of the first 18 projects that are in the planning process in the UK. Vestas also makes the final delivery for the Horns Reef project – the largest wind farm in the world to date – which is established off the west coast of Denmark.
In the autumn Vestas will launch three new turbine types: V90-1.8 MW, V90-2.0 MW and V90-3.0 MW. With their introduction Vestas demonstrates once again that it is capable of developing turbines that help reduce the cost per kilowatt hour generated. The expectation is that the V90 turbines will help improve the competitiveness of wind power and thus help Vestas achieve its vision of wind power becoming one of the world’s leading energy sources.
The 12 December will be a milestone in the history of Vestas and the wind turbine industry. It is the day when Vestas and NEG Micon, another one of the world’s leading producers of wind power systems, announce their plans to merge.
2004: More mergers and new management
The biggest event in the first six months of 2004 is the merger of Vestas and NEG Micon. The establishment of an undisputed world leader in the wind power industry becomes reality.
The practical work of merging the two companies goes according to plan. Three very important areas are already in place at the end of June 2004:
- To increase Vestas’ financial resources, capital was increased to EUR 283m
- The new structure is in place
- The joint future product range is determined
On the production side, Vestas decides to establish a blade factory in Portland, Australia. The factory is to produce approximately 100 sets of blades a year.
At the beginning of the year and with the forthcoming merger, there is a great deal of outside attention focused on whether the merged company will be able to maintain its new order rate and thus its turnover. So it is all the more satisfying that in the merger year the Group is able to deliver the forecasted sales of EUR 2,561 million and even increase its market share by two percentage points.
At the end of September, Torben Bjerre-Madsen, Assistant Managing Director, resigns. In October, the Managing Director, Svend Sigaard announces that after 18 years at Vestas he has decided that it is time for a change. Svend Sigaard leaves on 1 May 2005 and is replaced by Ditlev Engel, who comes from Hempel A/S.
