Like the rest of industry, Vestas is hit hard these days by rising costs of materials and transportation, with both weighing down on earnings.

That's why the Danish turbine maker and rivals are now trying to boost earnings by passing some of the extra costs onto customers, writes business daily Børsen.

However, such improvement should not take place at the expense of product development, says Vestas Chief Technology Officer Anders Nielsen to the media.

"Of course, this puts pressure on everything we do, and we are obliged to ensure that we both have a short and long-term perspective. We are in no way backing down from our long-term commitment. We drive this industry, and we seek technological leadership as well as the best quality on the market. So, we're investing heavily in technology," the CTO tells Børsen.

In early 2021, the Danish manufacturer first set its capital expenditure guidance to EUR 1bn before downgrading to less than that sum. Although 2022 could be the company's biggest technology investment year ever, Nielsen says.

"We're now involved with both onshore and offshore wind, and we would also like to see to development of Power-to-X and energy storage. There's a range of technological areas in which we must be involved," he explains and adds that PtX and storage are lesser concerns than Vestas' core segments but are important areas to be involved with in the future.

OEMs have been struggling with earnings for several years as a price war has squeezed profit ratios for all wind turbine makers, which at the same time have toiled to come up with new technology.

Vestas is the sole OEM making money right now, Senior Equity Analyst Jacob Pedersen from Danish bank Sydbank tells Børsen.

The analyst says this provides a fine opportunity to restructuring the business model in the sector now that input costs are on the rise, turbines are becoming bigger and more powerful, and wind power prices are decreasing.

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