AWEA - United Technologies takes major stake in Clipper Windpower

United Technologies Corp. (UTC) has agreed to acquire a 49.5% stake in turbine manufacturer and developer Clipper Windpower, the companies announced this week.

The $270 million deal, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both UTC and Clipper Windpower, requires approval by shareholders of Clipper, a U.S.-based company that trades on the AIM London Stock Exchange. The cash purchase includes 84.3 million newly issued shares and 21.8 million shares from existing shareowners.

In making the investment, UTC expects to work closely with the turbine producer to improve the company's core technology, manufacturing, product quality, and supply chain capabilities. The agreement allows UTC to expand its power generation portfolio and enter the high-growth wind power segment, UTC noted.

The investment, in fact, would mark a reentry into the wind energy industry on the part of United Technologies, a diversified company that provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the building systems and aerospace industries. The company’s history in wind power harkens back to the early days of the industry in the 1980s, when its Hamilton Standard unit produced the 4-MW, WTS-4 model wind turbine, at one time the largest turbine in the world. During the same period, UTC’s United Technologies Research Center also won turbine development research funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for an innovative small turbine design.

Headquartered in Carpinteria, California, Clipper has a turbine manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and research and development facilities in Carpinteria, Calif. The flagship product of Clipper, which is also in the wind development business, is the Liberty 2.5-MW turbine.