New Vestas CFO on why US wind will keep humming through Trump rollback
Jakob Wegge-Larsen says data centres fuelling electricity demand that wind farms are still best placed to meet in years ahead
Energy-hungry AI data centres will help underpin strong US wind power demand even after key incentives for the sector are unwound by Donald Trump’s government, said the finance chief of sector giant Vestas.
Vestas said on Wednesday that lack of US policy clarity had held back its second quarter orders, which fell 44% year-on-year, but added that these had already rebounded in the current Q3, with 950MW of further US deals disclosed this week.
Momentum could gather after further guidance on eligibility timelines for projects are released next week.
“There is strong energy demand driven by data centres and AI and so forth in the US,” said Wegge-Larsen, citing wind’s “low-cost, secure and sustainable” credentials.
But can that demand endure in the face of what appears to be a constant stream of measures from Trump and his senior officials to hamper renewables?
Wegge-Larsen said: “That's our expectation. We read the same, I'm sure, statistics that you do and expectations in terms of demand.
“It is increasing significantly in the US. And again, as you look at the alternatives to wind most of them will be things that will take significant time. In terms of wind, we can fast deploy it at low cost.”
'Safe pair of hands'
The new CFO, who joined the wind power group in Q2 from logistics giant DB Schenker, said he aims to be a “safe pair of hands at Vestas”.
“I've been in a different industry, logistics and transportation in general, in different international companies. Always companies with an international outlook,” he said.
One of the major challenges for Vestas is to complete the production ramp-up needed for its flagship V236 15MW offshore turbine.
“We have a strong pipeline of €10bn that will take us the coming years to deliver on. We will be very busy with [that].”
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