Jun 4 2010
Global power technologies company, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), and wind turbine manufacturer, Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd. (Sinovel) unveiled a newly signed agreement to develop advanced wind turbines suitable for onshore as well as offshore use.
The companies will develop wind turbine with multi-megawatt capacities and plan to cater to the global markets. The agreement was announced at the WINDPOWER 2010 Conference & Exhibition in Dallas, Texas.
The existing strategic partnership between the companies will now include additional wind turbine designs for development and marketing in onshore and offshore markets. According to the new agreement, AMSC Windtec, the subsidiary wholly-owned by Sinovel and AMSC, will design and develop various wind turbines of multi-megawatt-scale, which will be marketed by Sinovel worldwide. Volume production of these turbines is slated to commence in late 2012. Sinovel will also purchase from AMSC, the core electrical components required for the turbine development.
Since its inception in 2004, Sinovel has shipped about 2,400 of 1.5 MW wind turbines (SL1500) and 100 3 MW wind turbines (SL3000). The company is currently ranked as China’s third largest wind turbine maker. Sinovel and AMSC Windtec’s partnership first formed in 2005. Since then, the core electrical components for Sinovel’s 1.5 MW wind turbines have been provided by AMSC. Additionally, 3 and 5 MW wind turbines, co-developed by Sinovel and AMSC Windtec, received power electronics and engineering support services from AMSC as well.