Confessions from a crisis

Better late than never, NEG Micon has come clean on both its real financial state and the technical problems which contributed to the economic mess. The company, an influential heavyweight in the world of wind energy, has squeezed enough money out of its shareholders to cover extra expenditure for 1999 of around $80 million. Out of this, about $35 million is being spent on retrofitting gear boxes on well over a thousand wind turbines installed around the world. The straightforward admissions of guilt and the businesslike approach to solving the problems (page 34-37) reveal a totally new style of management at NEG Micon in the person of Torben Bjerre-Madsen (right).