Vestas Wind Systems
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| Publicly traded Aktieselskab | |
| Traded as | Nasdaq Copenhagen: VWS |
| Industry | Electrical equipment |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Peder Hansen |
| Headquarters | Aarhus, Denmark |
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Key people
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Anders Runevad (Group President and CEO), Bert Nordberg (Chairman) |
| Products | Wind turbines |
| Revenue |
 €8.423 billion (2015)
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€906 million (2015)
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| Profit |
€685 million (2015)
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| Total assets |
€8.587 billion (end 2015)
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| Total equity |
€2.899 billion (end 2015)
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Number of employees
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21,449 (Q1 2016) |
| Website |
Official Website Official Facebook Official Twitter |
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It was founded in 1945, and as of 2013, it is the largest wind turbine company in the world. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Australia, China, and the United States, and employs more than 21,000 people globally.
Vestas traces its roots to 1898 where Hand Smith Hansen bought a black smith shop which operated as a family business. After the second world war Vestas was founded in 1945 by his son Peder Hansen as "Vestjysk Stålteknik A/S" (West-Jutlandish steel technology). The company initially manufactured household appliances, moving its focus to agricultural equipment in 1950, intercoolers in 1956, and hydraulic cranes in 1968. It entered the wind turbine industry in 1979, and produced wind turbines exclusively from 1989.
The company's North American headquarters was relocated in 2002 from Palm Springs, California to Portland, Oregon.
In 2003, the company merged with the Danish wind turbine manufacturer NEG Micon to create the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world, under the banner of Vestas Wind Systems. After a sales slump and an operational loss in 2005, Vestas recovered in 2006 with a 28% market share and increased production although market share slid to between 12.5. and 14%
Vestas began a whistleblower program in 2007, among the first in Denmark.
On 1 December 2008 Vestas announced plans to expand its North American headquarters in Portland through construction of a 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) new building, but this plan was mothballed in 2009 due to the economic recession, and in August 2010 the company announced a revised plan, scaled back in size, to expand its Portland headquarters by renovating an existing-but-vacant 172,000 sq ft (16,000 m2) building. At that time, Vestas employed about 400 in Portland and committed to add at least 100 more employees there within five years; the new building will have space for up to 600 workers. The company moved its Portland offices to the new headquarters building, a renovated historic building, in May 2012.
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Wikipedia