Vestas shares take a dive in wake of new US initiative

The Danish wind turbine giant could run out of puff as a result of a new Republican tax proposal

Last night, a new US tax reform plan was presented by the Republicans that if adopted could have serious consequences for wind energy and, by association, one of the major players, the Danish company Vestas.

The plan would cut the amount of support being given to the wind turbine industry, and the stock market was not slow to respond. Shares in Vestas lost over 8 percent of their value because of the uncertainty caused by this move, reports Metroxpress.

Barclays bank was quoted as saying the tax reform could have “a damaging effect on the market volume and prices” for the wind turbine industry if it was adopted.

A vital market share

Last year, around one-third of Vestas’s order book came from the US, so the company is worried.

“Even though the tax initiative is only a proposal and has to pass through the Senate, it is disappointing that the House of Representatives has come up with a plan that includes a roll-back of the phasing out of the production tax credit (PTC) initiative that was adopted across the parties in 2015,” said Morten Dyrholm, the chief of marketing and communications at Vestas.

The new tax initiative will reduce the tax rebate by almost one-third to 15 dollars per magawatt-hour for projects started after 2 November 2017.

“We’re working on giving the American people a big tax rebate for Christmas,” said President Donald Trump when he revealed the details of the initiative at the White House.

A number of other branch organisations have criticised the new tax plan as have the Democrats, who see it as mainly benefiting the rich.