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American Superconductor expands into Turkey

Staff/news services  —  8/06/2008 11:44 am

American Superconductor Corp., which has its wind power business based in Middleton, announced Wednesday that it has signed its first deal in Turkey.

The company said it has licensed a 1.65-megawatt wind turbine design to Turkish manufacturer Model Enerji Ltd. The Turkish company plans to begin mass production of the turbine at the end of 2009.

In addition to an upfront license fee, Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor will receive a royalty payment for the first 425 turbines. It didn't disclose the value of the contract, but many of the company's contracts are worth millions of dollars.

Under the terms of the contract, Model Enerji has exclusive rights to manufacture, sell, install, operate and maintain the WT1650 in Turkey and has non-exclusive rights for surrounding Mediterranean and Eastern European countries.

"Because of its vast wind resources, open terrain and industrial infrastructure, Turkey is predicted to be among the world's fastest-growing wind energy markets," M. Celal Keki, general manager of Model Enerji, said in a statement.

In its Global Wind 2007 Report, the Global Wind Energy Council predicts Turkey could be the next "giant market on Europe's doorstep." The country's wind power capacity grew 198 percent to 146 megawatts in 2007. An additional 12 licensed projects with a capacity of over 600 megawatts are expected to be finalized by the end of 2009. The Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Agency is expected to offer licenses for up to 10,000 megawatts of wind energy in the years ahead and says 30,000 megawatts would eventually be feasible.

"Turkey has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and, like all growing economies, it needs more sources of power generation to enable its continued strong growth," Greg Yurek, American Superconductor founder and CEO, said in a statement. "With the country's electricity demand expected to rise seven to eight percent annually in the coming years, the Turkish government is increasingly promoting wind power to bolster the security of the country's power supply, gain additional energy independence and reduce emissions. Model Enerji has a first-mover advantage in this dynamic market and has the technical expertise, strong management and experienced partners needed to achieve long-term success."

American Superconductor on Tuesday reported an order backlog as of June 30 of approximately $634 million, compared with $199 million as of March 31 and $73 million as of June 30, 2007.

Staff/news services  —  8/06/2008 11:44 am