REpower and A&R Rotec found company PowerBlades GmbH for offshore rotor blade production

Hamburg, 17 July 2007. REpower Systems AG (WKN 617703) has founded a joint venture with rotor blade manufacturer Abeking & Rasmussen Rotec (A&R) for the production of in-house offshore rotor blades for wind energy turbines. The establishment of the joint venture was approved by the REpower supervisory board in May and is to produce offshore rotor blades developed by REpower.

REpower and A&R Rotec have stakes of 51% and 49% respectively in the company PowerBlades GmbH. Close to the manufacturing hall for the offshore turbine REpower 5M in Bremerhaven which is currently being built, an in-house production site will be established for the manufacturing of the rotor blades. The blade production is scheduled to start in midyear 2008.

Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO of REpower Systems AG, comments: „With the joint venture PowerBlades GmbH we will be able to concentrate our long-time experiences in the development as well as the production of rotor blades. Considering the now foreseeable positive progress of the offshore wind industry also in Germany, it is necessary to quickly achieve series-production readiness and to further extend our competitive advantage in this important business unit.”

Lars Weigel, Managing Director of the Abeking & Rasmussen Rotec GmbH & Co. KG, adds: „The foundation of the joint venture is the consistent continuation of the successful and long lasting collaboration of both firms. Due to the cooperative venture, the progress of offshore wind energy in Germany can successfully be advanced. Furthermore, A&R is able to expand the released capacities for its customers through the dislocation of the rotor blade production for REpower to Bremerhaven and to meet the increasing demands of the market.”