Some countries are planning to reinstate renewable energy subsidies to help them build capacity faster, said the chairman of wind turbine giant Vestas.

Bert Nordberg told financial news agency Reuters that it “will be a long time before subsidies disappear” despite the huge strides renewables have made in becoming competitive with conventional sources.

“I know politicians are planning to reinstate subsidies, because they are under pressure to build more renewable capacity quickly,” he said, without giving further details.

A Vestas spokesperson told Recharge that Nordberg's remarks were made in the context of a discussion of the wider support frameworks needed from governments to underpin the energy transition, for example in relation to key infrastructure areas such as the grid.

Vestas and other wind OEMs have had to adapt to the transition from feed-in tariff support to a competitive or subsidy-free environment in many key markets – sometimes with strong downwards pressure on their own margins.

The Danish wind group – the world’s largest supplier of onshore turbines – has in the last week announced deals to equip subsidy-free projects in Denmark and the UK.

Vestas Northern and Central Europe president Nils de Baar told Recharge earlier this week that he expects all wind markets to eventually move to a merchant environment.