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 being 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 today 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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