May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA, the biggest Spanish maker of wind turbines, said clients are pushing back delivery dates for orders and indicated it won’t meet its sales volume forecast for this year as a result.

The Zamudio, Spain-based company will see sales of “more than 3,000 megawatts this year,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Guillermo Ulacia told reporters in Bilbao yesterday. This compares with a forecast of 3,300 to 3,600 megawatts the company gave on May 14.

Declining orders for wind turbines in Europe have already led Gamesa’s largest European competitor Vestas Wind Systems A/S to cut 1,900 jobs, primarily in Denmark and the U.K., citing a weakening market. Wind companies have instead turned their sights on China, India and the U.S. as potential growth regions.

“We have had delays on orders,” Ulacia said. “Clients have asked for more flexibility into 2010 and 2011, especially the large clients, who have delayed 30 percent.” He said customers were having difficulty getting financing for projects.

Gamesa fell as much as 93 cents, or 5.6 percent, to 15.69 euros and traded 2.8 percent lower at 16.15 euros at 1:13 p.m. Madrid time. The shares were then suspended, the stock market operator said.

Gamesa said it expects to increase its capacity in the U.S. by 30 percent this year to 1,200 megawatts, and to 400 megawatts in China. It has also spent 7 million euros ($10 million) on a factory in India with a target capacity of 200 megawatts a year. Investment in China and the U.S. will be as much as 40 million euros, Ulacia said.

Order Book

Gamesa will also reduce its Spanish employees’ working hours over the summer months with a view to closing plants over the summer holidays, Ulacia said.

A spokesman for Gamesa, who asked not to be named in line with company policy, said today by telephone that it has orders through to 2012, without adding details. Gamesa said in a presentation May 14 that it has reduced the lead time for delivering orders to four months from six.

Utilities are also cutting costs. Iberdrola SA, Gamesa’s largest shareholder and customer, said in January it would reduce spending this year to confront the credit crisis and to consolidate acquisitions in the U.K. and U.S.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gianluca Baratti in Madrid at gbaratti@bloomberg.net Javier Marquina in Madrid on jmarquina@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 29, 2009 07:26 EDT