Vestas gaining in U.S. wind turbine capacity

Source: By Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post • Posted: Thursday, December 1, 2016

Vestas Wind Systems, the Danish wind turbine maker with a big manufacturing presence in Colorado, accounted for 34 percent of the 8.2 gigawatts of wind power capacity installed in the country last year, according to a report Monday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That was second only to General Electric, which accounted for 42 percent of installations and ahead of Siemens at 16 percent. It represents the largest share Vestas has claimed in the U.S. in records going back to 2005 and reflects a big turn around from 2013, when the company had almost no installations.

The big three manufacturers accounted for 76 percent of the 55 gigawatts of the nation’s installed wind generating capacity at the end of 2015. General Electric turbines accounted for 43 percent of the total capacity, while Vestas had 18 percent and Siemens claimed 15 percent, according to the EIA.

Vestas has been on a hiring spree since 2014, adding hundreds of jobs to its plants in Windsor, Brighton and Pueblo. Federal tax credits backing wind energy, however, are set to phase out through 2020.