Vestas boss fighting for European green energy: We may be forced to move out of Europe

“Wind energy was largely created in Europe—at our universities—and tested here. If we don’t protect and support what we’ve built, companies like ours will ultimately move out of Europe. It’s that simple.”

So says Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen in an interview with Bloomberg News.

And he has a direct warning for Europe and the EU: Adopt a bolder industrial policy, or risk seeing the company move across the Atlantic and to other regions.

Andersen reckons that as demand for cheap and reliable power grows, the EU’s fragmented approach to the industry will jeopardize its efforts to achieve energy independence and compete with other global manufacturers.

“When you are self-sufficient, energy prices fall. So if Europe wants some of this, then energy and industrial policy must be very closely linked,” says the Vestas CEO.

“We need an industrial policy that enables European companies to be both global and large,” he tells Bloomberg.

Henrik Andersen criticizes the EU for limiting consolidation in the industry, saying that it has weakened Europe’s ability to compete with companies in Asia and the US.

“For decades, we have said no to mergers and consolidation in the name of competition. Now it is precisely this fragmentation that is making Europe uncompetitive,” he says.

Andersen points to the US as a pioneer, as the US has a model for how to approach industrial policy and prioritize energy.

Do as the Americans do

At the same time, he downplays President Donald Trump’s threat to eliminate clean energy subsidies in his tax and spending bill worth billions and billions of dollars.

Ultimately, the final package signed into law on Friday removed a point tax on wind and solar projects that use a certain amount of Chinese components.

This was a partial concession to clean energy advocates, but the bill still phased out some important tax credits for wind and solar.

“I’ll be a little bold and say this: Europe should look at what the US has done. Over the past few decades, the US has built up a level of energy independence that now allows it to export energy to Europe. That didn’t happen overnight,” says the Vestas CEO.

“It took two or three decades of consistent policy, but it shows that it can be done.”

English edit by Katrine Gøthler