India - Suzlon acquires repower and signs series of wind turbine deals

Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon (Mumbai, India) in June acquired competitor REpower Systems AG (Hamburg, Germany) and now owns 33.85 percent of REpower shares. With the acquisition, Suzlon says it will accelerate its expansion into the European wind energy market, which the company says constitutes about half of the global market. Additionally, Suzlon says REpower’s complementary product portfolios and R&D strategies also will drive the development of next-generation wind energy solutions, particularly in the offshore wind energy arena, where REpower has developed and commercialized its 5-MW wind turbine, currently the world’s largest.

In other Suzlon news, Suzlon Wind Energy Corp., the Chicago, Ill.-based subsidiary of Suzlon Energy A/S (Aarhus, Denmark), has extended its contract with PPM Energy (Portland, Ore.). PPM is part of the IBERDROLA group of companies, which has more than 6,500 MW of combined wind power capacity worldwide. The extension adds 300 MW of wind turbine capacity to the existing agreement, reportedly making the Suzlon/PPM deal one of the largest single contracts in the history of the company and the U.S. wind energy industry. The original agreement called for delivery of 300 MW of turbine capacity in 2008 and an additional 100 MW of capacity in 2009. The extension expands the 2009 total to 400 MW for a total of 700 MW over two years. Suzlon’s S88-2.1 MW wind turbine is the focus of the agreement. To meet capacity levels, Suzlon will deliver 143 units of the S88-2.1 MW in 2008 and 191 units in 2009 to sites across the U.S., starting in the summer of 2008. Finally, Suzlon has signed a contract to supply 300 units of its S88-2.1 MW turbine — 630 MW of capacity — to Edison Mission Group (EMG, Irvine, Calif.). The two-phase contract calls for delivery of 315 MW in 2008 and the same in 2009.