Vestas Wind Energy

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is not a household name in the United States, but the Denmark based company claims to be the largest modern energy producer in the world, with a market share of 23 percent. Vestas refers to wind energy as “modern energy” because it is clean, predictable, and renewable. Vestas, by far the largest alternative energy company in the world, makes up almost 20% of the Ardour Global Index, with First Solar being next comprising around 10% of the index. Vestas has installed over 35,000 turbines in 63 different countries and installs a new unit every four hours on average. .

Vestas manufactures various wind turbine models; the main components are made in Denmark. The largest turbine the company makes is the 3 Mw V90. It’s advanced materials and design makes it lightweight and more efficient than previous models. Vestas units have been hooked up for grid compatibility as well as used for offshore and rural applications. On the website, one can see the breakdown of where Vestas units have be installed throughout the world. So far, there are 9,641 Vestas turbines in the United States today creating over 5000 Mw of power.

Currently, Vestas Wind Systems A/S trades on the stock market in Copenhagen under the symbol VWS. There are two ADRs where one can purchase Vestas stock domestically under the symbol VWDRY and VWSYF, but only around 500 million shares are outstanding with an average daily volume of a little over 100,000 shares. VWDRY is one third of a share of VWS so its quote is one third the price. Many individuals may not recognize Vestas domestically, but the company is leading the pack in the alterative energy market. The ADRs have faired much better than other alternative energy stocks over the past few months and will continue to do well in the future.

Sales are strong, the company is expanding, and products are on backorder. However, Vestas stock has dropped nearly 70% over recent months, along with many other additional alternative energy companies. The company's stock may be a bargain at this time because of the quality of product and future growth opportunities.