Vestas continues to make headwinds in the US, despite the current administration's disdain for wind energy. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Vestas is making headway in America. Despite a president who has a dim view of their product. Despite the administration halting offshore wind projects across the country. Despite tariffs climbing over one hundred percent. Vestas delivered more than sixty percent MORE to America in the third quarter of this year. Vestas delivered ONSHORE wind turbines. One point four gigawatts [GIG-uh-wahts]. Enough to power more than four hundred thousand homes. Every third turbine they delivered worldwide went to the US - that Danish wind turbine manufacturer - has a chief executive named HENRIK ANDERSEN. VESTAS Chief Executive HENRIK ANDERSEN.Andersen said something remarkable recently: "We are pleased with what we see." Now you might wonder how. How does a wind company GROW when the White House opposes wind turbines? How do orders INCREASE when the administration halts offshore wind development? How does business boom when tariffs make everything more expensive? Here's what VESTAS figured out two decades ago. They built blade factories in Colorado. Nacelle factories too. More than twelve hundred American companies are in their supply chain. Creating jobs. Creating trust. Creating roots too deep to pull up. And here's the thing about electricity in America today: The demand is so HIGH - from factories, from those hungry data centers powering artificial intelligence - that customers will buy power REGARDLESS of tariffs. As Andersen puts it: "Electricity is in such high demand that orders will actually be fulfilled." Some customers ARE waiting for clarity on those tariffs. VESTAS admits it would have gotten even MORE orders without them. And yes, offshore wind orders? Zero. Not a single megawatt in the third quarter. The administration saw to that. Despite everything - the politics, the tariffs, the offshore freeze - wind remains the most cost-effective electricity source available. ONSHORE wind. Seven to nine percent annual growth expected through twenty thirty. And VESTAS? They're so confident they just announced a one hundred fifty million EURO share buyback program. That's money they're returning to shareholders. You don't do that unless you believe in what's coming next. Twenty-five hundred megawatts ordered for the Americas in just one quarter. The US and Germany - driving their order book right now. Now Andersen won't predict WHEN all those waiting customers will place their orders. "It's simply too difficult to predict," he says. But he adds this: "We take the orders we can get" And there's something else worth knowing. Those rising electricity prices everyone's feeling? In parts of America, wholesale power costs jumped as much as two hundred sixty-seven percent in just five years. Baltimore. Los Angeles. Minneapolis. Cities far from data centers paying more because the grid serves everyone. VESTAS is betting that when power bills climb, wind becomes MORE attractive. Not less. The cheapest electron wins. And right now, even WITH tariffs, wind is delivering the most affordable power in America. So while Washington halts offshore projects and debates tariffs, this Danish company just keeps building ONSHORE. Keeps hiring. Keeps delivering. One point four gigawatts at a time. The administration froze offshore wind. But VESTAS found another way.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related