Apr 12 2010
American Superconductor Corporation, a worldwide power technologies company, has announced the receipt of an order worth over $20 million from Ghodawat Energy Pvt. Ltd. (GEPL) for the supply of a complete array of electrical control systems applicable for wind turbines. According to the terms of the contract, Ghodawat is expected to receive the first shipment from AMSC in mid-2010 and the final shipment is scheduled before the end of the year 2013. Over the past year, AMSC has received six such volume shipment orders including that of Ghodwat for power electronic systems or components for wind turbines.
AMSC manufactures and supplies electrical items such as electrical control systems for wind turbines, SCADA systems and other power electronics, pitch and yaw converters and PowerModule power converters. They facilitate the reliable working of wind turbines by regulating the voltage and power flow, observing the performance of the system and checking the pitch of wind turbine blades and yaw for increasing the efficiency of the wind turbines.
As per the clauses of the contract signed with AMSC during 2008, GEPL has obtained the license for using AMSC subsidiary AMSC Windtec’s patented WT1650df wind turbine design and manufacturing methods. GEPL also has obtained the right to sell the 1.65 MW turbines manufactured using the licensed technology all over the world.
GEPL, owned by the Sanjay Ghodawat Group based on India, is a leading company in the wind power industry of the subcontinent. The company owns and operates more than 150 wind turbines and generates more than 100 MW power from the wind farms located in four Indian states. The company is also engaged in the manufacture a tubular-type wind turbine tower at its 100% subsidiary known as Shrenik Industries Pvt. Ltd. The factory manufactures over 400 such towers annually. Currently, the company is engaged in the manufacture of 1.65 MW doubly fed induction type wind turbines under license from AMSC Windtec.
According to details furnished in a research report published by Make Consulting during March 2010, India ranks fifth in wind power generation by producing approximately 10,500 MW of power. The research firm anticipates that the production of power in the subcontinent will almost double to 24,000 MW by the end of the year 2015.