Supplying the rising demand for wind power

This really is an excellent BBC news interview with the Chief Executive of Vestas one of the leading manufacturers of wind turbines in Europe. With rising demand for renewable energy supplies driven in part by persistently high oil prices - the pressure is on companies such as Vestas to deliver sufficient wind turbines to meet demand. The lead times between ordering a wind turbine and it becoming operational are long - including testing for wind strength and design of the wind farm site - a good example to use when considering elasticity of supply.

The Vestas web site provides a mine of good background information. The company claims to have close on 25% of the market share in wind turbines and has produced 35,500 of them in recent years. Vestas faces cost pressures of its own including the rising price of steel on world markets and increased transportation costs. Bottlenecks in the supply of key components also affects their ability to deliver orders on time. Vestas is committed to organic growth and is investing in a new blade technology factory in the Isle of Wight although only a few days ago the company announced the closure of a wind turbine tower factory in Campbeltown in Scotland.

New-generation wind farms inevitably create political controversy in the areas in which investment in wind farms is targeted - this scheme in Cornwall in no exception.