After just two months of operation technical problems have forced the blades of the world's largest offshore wind farm to stop turning. ...The wind farm has not been producing energy since last weekend and Dong Energy, which owns the wind farm, is losing approximately 1.1 million kroner each day the turbines stand still.

Hundreds of workers at one of the south's flagship companies have today been told they will lose their jobs. Workers at Vestas, which has plants in Southampton and the Isle of Wight were this morning called into hear the shock news that the company is closing down its operations in the UK.

The economic crisis has slowed the market for wind turbines and has resulted in Vestas expecting to cut jobs. According to Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel in an initial Q1 report, the company is expected to lay off some 1,900 employees, primarily in Denmark and the United Kingdom.

New figures show the country is lagging behind other European countries when it comes to wind power capacity Denmark risks losing its position as the leading European wind energy nation ...Seventeen percent of Danish electricity is produced by wind power, which is still the highest level in Europe, but Germany is catching up with 10 percent. ...Wind power currently accounts for six percent of the total national energy usage.

Current and former executives at the wind turbine producer's Spanish subsidiary are accused of fraud Wind turbine maker Vestas has been defrauded for around 90 million kroner by employees of its Spanish subsidiary Vestas Eólica, according to a company press release.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's biggest wind-turbine maker, said it uncovered a 90 million kroner ($16 million) fraud at its Spanish unit. Vestas has notified the authorities in Barcelona of the case, which involves current and former employees who made false invoices for nonexistent services, the Randers, Denmark-based company said today in a stock-exchange statement.

LM Glasfiber announces mass lay-offs in Denmark as a result of the on-going financial crisis. Wind turbine blade producer LM Glasfiber has announced that it is to fire one fifth of its Danish workforce in what is being called the biggest domestic firing-round of recent times. ...‘We believe 2009 will be a year with stagnant growth in the windmill market and LM Glasfiber has a clear case of over capacity,' said Rothausen.

Parliament approved the construction of Denmark's largest offshore wind turbine park on Tuesday. The wind farm will be placed in the Kattegat strait of the North Sea between Jutland and the island of Anholt by 2012. The turbines will be capable of producing 400 megawatts of energy ...Denmark has 5267 turbines, of which nearly 70 percent are located on Jutland.

An emergency meeting was held at Argyll and Bute Council's headquarters in Lochgilphead yesterday to discuss Friday's shock announcement that the Vestas wind-turbine factory at Machrihanish, near Campbeltown, is to close its manufacturing plant in Kintyre with the loss of 92 jobs. ...A council statement said no representative from Vestas attended the meeting, insisting that any talks had to take place at the company's head office in Denmark.

Vestas has landed a deal with energy giant E.ON worth over one billion kroner, although the company's wind turbines continue to experience construction and maintenance problems. ...Vestas has been the focus of less positive news recently, as several of its wind turbine owners have reported serious malfunctions, with a few of the structures having collapsed over the past two weeks.

Canadian investors looking for exposure to the booming alternative energy sector have a handful of domestic players to choose from, but the local pickings are pretty slim and most of the companies are small. So why not look overseas, to one of the green behemoths that has sprung up on the international scene? ...The fast-growing U.S. wind power industry, driven by favourable government tax policy, is Vestas' largest current market. ...Some analysts are also urging caution over Vestas' high price. "We find the shares are fundamentally overvalued," said analyst Christian Nagstrup of Jyske Bank, a Danish financial institution. The biggest risk he sees at Vestas is a bottleneck in getting parts to build the turbines. Subcontractors have been slow in delivering key components, and that could slow delivery of complete turbines, Mr. Nagstrup said in a recent report.