Vestas Wins Major UK Offshore Wind Project

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said on Monday its offshore joint venture had received a 400 megawatt (MW) order for a project in Great Britain, its single largest offshore order to date.

Vestas will provide 116 turbines for E.ON's Rampion project off the coast of southern England, which will generate enough electricity to power 290,000 homes, according to the German utility.

First delivery is expected in the first quarter of 2017, Vestas said. The wind farm will be fully operational a year later, according to E.ON.

The joint venture, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, is with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHVYF) and is Vestas' offshore turbine division, an area where it is playing catch up with rivals such as Siemens (SIEMENS.NS).

The Danish company is trying to bounce back after some difficult years when it had to cut costs and jobs. It has had a robust start to this year with orders up 30 percent in the first quarter to 1,750 MW.

Since then, it has also received a 400 MW order for an onshore project in the United States, which alongside a 425 MW order in 2010 for a wind park in Australia, is one of the largest for the company.

Year-to-date, its orders now amount to 2,902 MW, Vestas said, compared to 6,500 MW for the full year last year.

Most industry consultants rank Vestas as the world's largest wind turbine maker followed by Siemens Wind Power and General Electric Co.. But it has fallen behind in the offshore sector which in Europe is dominated by Siemens.

To try to catch up, Vestas formed its MHI Vestas joint venture for the offshore market in 2013 and the business has developed an 8.0 MW turbine, one of the largest in the world.

Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki