Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas at the end of the first quarter 2022 announced a flurry of orders, which Sydbank chief analyst Jacob Pedersen said shows there is still “life in the wind market despite price increases”.
The OEM on Thursday alone – the last day of the first quarter – reported combined orders of 693MW in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
They were led by a 201MW order for an undisclosed wind project in the US, consisting of 33 V162-6.2MW machines in a 6MW operating mode and one V136-3.45MW turbine. Delivery starts in the fourth quarter of this year, with commissioning scheduled a year later.
Vestas also announced four different orders in Italy with a combined capacity of 152MW, among them a 97MW order for the repowering of the existing Camporeale project and for the new Roccapalumba project, both located in Sicily.
The contract includes the supply and installation of 12 of the OEM’s V117-4.2 MW turbines for Camporeale, and 13 of its V117-3.45 MW machines for Roccapalumba.
“These projects are a great example of Vestas’ versatility when it comes to providing sustainable energy solutions in any kind of project, either establishing new wind projects or repowering existing wind turbines,” said Francesco Amati, head of Vestas in Italy.
“Furthermore, the Camporeale project is an excellent example of how repowering is also driving the clean energy transition by exchanging older wind turbines with more advanced technology.”
The manufacturer also scored a 93MW order in Finland, a 76MW order in Australia, and orders in Portugal, France, India and Greece.
The company during the first quarter has announced 1.56GW in onshore wind orders in total, and Sydbank expects another 600MW in unannounced orders for the period. The bank estimates the average selling price (ASP) to have risen to €0.9m/MW ($0.95m/MW) in the quarter. The ASP had already risen in the previous quarter as Vestas in lengthy negotiations has been trying to push rising raw material and shipping costs through to consumers.
“We clearly prioritise value over volume right now,” Vestas Morten Dyrholm, group senior vice president, marketing, communications, sustainability and public affairs, had told Recharge in a recent interview.
As negotiations on price increases take time, it is no great surprise that the company’s onshore wind orders during the first quarter of this year were “not flashy” Sydbank’s Pedersen said, adding that even when combined with those for offshore wind turbines (around 620MW in Q1), orders likely were somewhat below the normal level.
Total orders announced by Vestas at the end of the first quarter totalled 2.18GW. The tally for the same quarter a year ago, including unannounced orders, was 2GW.
Vestas this year will also face write-downs on Russian assets, Pedersen said, adding that his current expectation for a net profit of DKr293.9m for the full year may be too optimistic and that the OEM could come closer to zero result or even a loss in 2022.
But as the market potential for wind power in Europe currently is gaining further momentum, “attractive growth prospects and sales price increase will pave the way for massive improvements as early as” next year, the analyst said.
