In October 2010, Gamesa unveiled its new Business Plan 2011-2013 in London; it plans to become a benchmark in the wind power industry by offering the lowest cost of energy, while focusing on three vectors: Cost of Energy (CoE), growth and efficiency.

Gamesa adopted this course following a rigorous analysis of the energy business, particularly wind energy, which has undergone a profound, rapid transformation in recent years due to a number of factors; these include the global economic and financial crisis, which has slowed expenditure on new projects and created regulatory uncertainty in some countries; the shift in demand to emerging markets; increased competition, as global and local companies converge in a single market; and the race to reduce the cost of energy.

The market has become increasingly volatile in recent years as a result of regulatory uncertainty in some countries, primarily in southern Europe. In contrast, there are projections for notable growth in the market in the medium and long term, sustained by the worldwide energy shortfall, countries' commitment to combat climate change, the need for more secure energy supplies, normalisation of the onshore wind business in Eastern Europe in the medium term, growth in Asia and other emerging markets (India, Brazil, etc.), and the arrival of the offshore market (expected to take off by 2014/2015).

Strategic vectors

• Cost of energy. Gamesa's plan for the next three years includes, among others, becoming the benchmark in the industry for Cost of Energy based on two lines of action: innovation and technology in its new WTG platforms, and maintenance services, enabling it to cut its clients' Cost of Energy by 20% over three years and by 30% over five years.
  

To this end, the company will launch an ambitious five-year plan to develop three new onshore WTG product families and two new offshore platforms (G11X and G14X). Gamesa will also continue to work on cutting costs and improving availability through innovative approaches to operation and maintenance and a programme to extend WTG life cycles.

This plan is supported by the increase in engineering hours per year to 1.5 million hours per year, by doubling R&D personnel by 2013 (more than 600 engineers nowadays), more than 150 patent families and five new technological centres in 2011.

Gamesa will also invest intensively to expand its operating capacity and technology lead worldwide, in both onshore and offshore wind power. It plans to invest 250 million euro per year in the next three years to establish manufacturing capacity where necessary to meet market demand and launch new products, including the development of offshore WTGs, to which it will allocate 150 million euro in 2011-2013.

• Growth. The growth strategy designed for the next three years focuses on two major objectives: selling 4,000 MW in 33 markets, and doubling MW under operation and maintenance contracts to 24,000 MW by 2013.

This strategy will be driven by a commercial strategy based on the entrance in new markets and new customer segments. Gamesa has designed a new commercial structure with 24 field offices in 8 regions worldwide. In the last 12 months, it has sold MW to over 20 new customers in 10 new markets.

In the coming years, Gamesa plans to consolidate its position as one of the world's leading wind farm developers. To that end, it will continue to build out the backlog. By 2013, the wind farm division projects deliveries amounting to 700 MW.

• Efficiency. Gamesa's Business Plan 2011-2013 establishes a steady reorganisation of the company's production capacity worldwide based on each market's specific conditions; it will increase investment and its industrial footprint in growing markets (such as India and Brazil) and markets with considerable wind resources (China and the US) while trimming capacity in other markets, such as Spain, where Gamesa plans to reduce production capacity to 1,000 MW by 2013, compared with close to 2,200 MW in 2009.

In contrast, effective production capacity will double in the US and China in the period 2009-2013, to over 1,000 MW in each country; Gamesa will establish up to 300 MW of capacity in Latin America by 2013; and attain 800 MW of capacity in India by the end of that same period. Gamesa plans some new plants in India between 2010 and 2013.

The search for greater efficiency also involves cutting production and logistics costs; implementing a new integrated global logistics system, which will cut costs by around 13%; and cutting lead times from 12 to 4 months. Construction processes will also be optimised, and lower value-added supplies will be outsourced to a greater extent.