Wednesday 5th February 2014

Vestas to issue 20m shares after turnaround

Vestas has announced plans to issue around 20.4 million new shares as it seeks to raise over €450m of capital from institutional and professional investors.

Plans for the sale of the shares, equivalent to 9.99% of existing stock, follow the completion of a 2-year turnaround programme, which saw a 30% cut to the global workforce and numerous factory closures.

These measures contributed to net income of €218m in the fourth quarter of 2013, leading the Danish manufacturer to a return to profit for the first time since mid-2011.

Higher than expected revenue of €6,084 and EBIT of €211m in 2013 were driven by smooth installation and transfer of risk combined with favourable December weather conditions.

EU wind growth slowed by 8% in 2013

11,150MW of new wind energy capacity came online in the EU in 2013, an 8% decrease from 2012.

According to new figures from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), a total installed capacity of 117,289MW masks the volatility of previously stable markets Spain, Italy and France, where installations have decreased by 84%, 65% and 24% respectively.

46% of new installations took place in the UK and Germany, indicating the increasing reliance of the market on a small number of countries.

Wind power accounted for 32% of all energy installed in 2013, with renewable energy installations responsible for 25GW of a total 35GW of new power capacity.

Short-time working at Senvion offshore unit

Senvion, formerly known as Repower, has revealed that it will introduce short-time working for employees at its subsidiary PowerBlades until the end of 2014.

According to local reports, the decision comes following a lack of offshore turbine orders, and will affect 246 employees in Bremerhaven, Germany.

The turbine manufacturer has ceased offshore blade production since the second calendar week of this year in response.

Spain 'eyes 7.4% renewables returns cap'

The Spanish government is reportedly looking to cap the rate on investment for renewable energy at 7.4%.

According to Bloomberg, the return is based on the average interest of a 10-year sovereign bond, in addition to 3 percentage points.

Spain’s wind energy trade body AEE complained that wind was disproportionally affected by the plans, with 37% of installed turbines set to lose premium payments, and the remainder due to see their earnings take a 50% hit.

Siemens wins 68MW Texan order

Siemens has won a 67.6MW turbine order for the Windthorst-2 wind farm in Texas, which will enter commercial operation towards the end of this year.

The deal is the German turbine manufacturer’s second in the U.S. state within a few weeks.

A majority interest in the 28-turbine project was recently sold to a fund managed by BlackRock.