New Energy
Renewable Power’s Big Mistake Was a Promise to Always Get Cheaper
- Vestas CEO says industry went too far with cheap-energy pledge
- Producers are losing money even as clean-power demand grows
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Renewable-energy producers have long touted the promise of cheap electricity, an assurance that’s helped them eat into the dominance of fossil fuels. But the pledge has gone too far, according to the world’s biggest wind-turbine maker.
Manufacturers such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S are seeing losses pile up as orders collapse at a time when they should be capitalizing on the turmoil in natural-gas markets. To blame -- at least in part -- is the industry’s insistence that clean electricity can only get cheaper, according to Henrik Andersen, chief executive officer of the Danish wind giant.