Vestas turbines are not overpriced but a reflection of rising costs, the manufacturer’s chief executive has said.
Henrik Andersen (pictured) was addressing the Vestas annual Capital Markets Day in Copenhagen when he was asked if the outfit was pricing itself out of competition.
“If anyone knows where we can get steel for old pricing, we are happy to connect,” he responded, adding that supply costs across the board had increased by double-digit percentages.
“If somebody says prices haven’t gone up, they are potentially pricing themselves out of the market in a very bad way.”
Andersen suggested outfits offering lower prices had not yet spotted problems down the line.
Rising costs had contributed to Vestas smaller order list in Q4, he said, with many developers having to revisit their planning applications and in some cases apply for changes.
But Andersen said he was comfortable with delays into Q1, as conversations with customers continued and energy prices increased to offset some of the issues.
The chief executive further announced revenue of more than €15bn in the twelve months to September 2021.
He said during that time Vestas received firm orders for 16.6GW, bringing their total since inception to 124GW.
The outfit announced it was pushing back the target date to reach a 10% EBIT margin by a year to 2025.
He used his speech to call for action to match government policy, identifying German and Dane wind energy targets.
“Denmark talks about energy transition target, but if we want to reach the renewables energy target in 2030, we need to build between 6-8GW, we need to double where we are today.
“With the current pace we might reach it, but it would be 2070-80 or even 2100 and that’s a little late.”
The Vestas chief executive also outlined an ambition to create turbines that were not only at the forefront of technological advances but were easier to service than their competitors.