Vestas feasts on Chinese turbine orders

BEIJING, CHINA - Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said its orders from China this year reached a record high as the country invests more heavily in clean energy, including wind power.

China became the world's biggest wind turbine market in 2009 when energy infrastructure markets in the West were depressed, and Chinese manufacturers have in the past few years climbed into the ranks of the top turbine suppliers, rivaling Vestas, GE and other established players.

Vestas, which has its largest integrated manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, opened a research and development center in Beijing in October and has said it would reserve its entire Chinese manufacturing capacity to meet China demand this year.

"In 2010, Vestas has announced almost 1,000 MW worth of orders in China alone, which is a record high order intake for Vestas in this competitive market," Vestas Wind Systems A/S said in a statement.

The company had earlier forecast that its global order intake in the full year 2010 would be between 8,000 and 9,000 MW, rebounding from a weak 2009 level of 3,072 MW.

The glimpse of Vestas' 2010 Chinese orders precedes full-year financial results due on February 9 and came with announcements that Vestas got an order for 58 turbines with total capacity of 49.3 megawatts from China and an order for seven turbines with combined capacity of 21 MW from Germany.

Shares in Vestas traded up 0.9 percent at 178 crowns at 1047 GMT, outperforming a flat Copenhagen bourse.

Vestas got an order for its V52-850 kW and V60-850 kW turbines from Chongli Construction Investment Huashi Wind Power Company Ltd for the Jiaochekou wind farm in Chongli County, in China's Hebei province, Vestas said.

"The turbines are scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2011," Vestas said, adding that the Chinese deal includes delivery, installation and commissioning, an online control system and a service and maintenance agreement.

Earlier this year China announced a 5 trillion yuan US $736 billion investment plan on clean energy in the next decade.

Vestas also said that German energy firm Erneuerbare Energien Teetzleben GmbH & Co. KG placed an order for Vestas' newest turbine, the V112-3.0 MW, for its Breesen-Teetzleben wind farm in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Delivery of those turbines is scheduled to be completed by mid-2011, and the deal includes supply, installation and commissioning, an online control system and a three-year service agreement, Vestas said.

It gave no value for either order, but as a rule of thumb turbine orders are worth around 1 million euros US $1.32 million per MW.