AMSC expands in India through Inox Wind Limited

American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, has announced that its wholly owned AMSC Windtec subsidiary has licensed its proprietary 2 megawatt (MW) doubly-fed induction wind turbine design to Inox Wind Limited, part of India’s Inox Group of Companies (Inox). The license provides Inox with the right to manufacture and sell the wind turbines globally. Inox plans to begin series production of the 2 MW wind turbines in 2010.

In addition to providing licensed designs to Inox, AMSC will help the company localize the supply of key wind turbine components, establish its manufacturing line, and build and test Inox’s first prototype wind turbines. AMSC will receive an upfront license fee as well as royalty payments. AMSC also will provide the electrical systems for the 2 MW wind turbines manufactured by Inox.

Inox has a diverse line of businesses, more than 4,500 employees and nearly US$600 million in annual sales. The company owns and operates several wind farms in India.

"The Inox Group of Companies has established technology leadership positions in a range of sectors," said Deepak Asher, Director of Inox Wind Limited. "We expect to make major investments in our wind energy business in the coming years, and we look forward to forging a close, long-term relationship with AMSC as we grow our manufacturing operations."

Inox is AMSC’s second wind turbine manufacturing customer in India. In 2008, AMSC Windtec licensed a 1.65 MW wind turbine design to Ghodawat Industries (India) Pvt. Ltd. Ghodawat plans to enter into commercial production of these wind turbines by the end of 2009.

"We view India as a tremendous growth opportunity for all AMSC products," said Greg Yurek, founder and CEO of AMSC. "Similar to our strategy in China, we have entered India through the wind energy market, which not only provides us with a growing stream of revenue, but also provides a concrete rationale to establish our in-country base of operations and contacts. From this base, we expect to address not only the wind market, but also the huge power grid market opportunity in India for our reactive compensation and superconductor products."

Global wind energy capacity grew by nearly 29 percent in 2008 to reach more than 120 gigawatts (GW), according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). India ranked as the world’s fifth largest wind power market at the end of 2008, with nearly 10 GW of capacity. The Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association estimates that the potential for wind development in India is approximately 65 to 70 GW.