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24.03.2010: WinWinD opens a wind turbine plant in Finland to meet growing customer needs
WinWinD Ltd, one of the leading wind turbine manufacturers, opens a wind turbine plant in Hamina, Finland today for the production of 3 MW wind turbines. The new production capacity, increased ten-fold, facilitates WinWinD’s expansion and growth into a global wind turbine provider.
“The new Hamina plant and the Chennai factory that started last year in India are both essential to our growth strategy. Together, they will raise our production capacity to a level that enables us to answer growing customer needs all over the world,” says Mr. Ilkka Hakala, CEO of WinWinD.
“We will expand our services to completely new market areas and grow into a truly global company during the next few years. The state-of-the-art technological properties of our products will make this possible.”
Wind power is business of the future. At the end of 2008, wind power capacity within the European Union was 64,949 GW in total; amounting to 4.3% of energy consumption in the EU. The EU’s target is that 20% of EU energy consumption comes from renewable resources by 2020. The share of wind power in EU electricity production is estimated to be at 12–14% in 2020, equalling approximately 180 GW.
According to Mr. Hakala, the downturn and the tightening of the financing market it brought about have slowed down the progress of wind power projects. Now, the market is luckily picking up.
“Last year, we invested heavily in sales, and now these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. We are about to make new deals on many markets, e.g. Estonia and France, as well a few completely new market areas”, says Mr. Hakala.
“Wind power is one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world. Treaties on climate change and gradual abandoning of fossil fuels will add momentum to wind power.”
According to the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, wind power is expected to be a major employer in the EU by 2020, with a target of 500,000 jobs. These jobs will mainly be created in countries that build wind power. At the moment 59% of the jobs in the field are in wind power turbine and component manufacturing. *
WinWinD – forerunner in wind turbine technology
WinWinD manufactures and supplies 1 and 3 MW wind turbines, which are based on innovative low speed technology and used by customers around the globe.
WinWinD is a forerunner of wind turbine technology. The wind turbines developed by WinWinD are based on a solution where electricity is produced in a unique, hybrid concept power unit. This guarantees efficiency, quality, long life and easy maintenance for the product. WWD-3 wind turbines are the most effective option available in Finland.
To begin with, the production capacity of the Hamina plant is two turbines per month. In the next year, it may rise to a maximum of 15 turbines per month. If necessary, it is possible to increase this capacity by expanding the plant and streamlining production. All in all, the Hamina plant increases the wind energy production capacity of Finland ten-fold.
The plant currently has 50 employees, but in the coming years, the plant is expected to provide employment to many more people in the Hamina region. Optimally the plant will employ up to 250 people.
According to the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, Finland could have approximately 35,000 wind power related jobs in 2020, providing that Finland grows its market share to 7% of the world market and the domestic market develops well. *
In Finland, the parliament starts the handling of wind turbine feed-in tariffs in May. State subsidies would add momentum to the growth of wind power; in 2008, the turnover of the business was approximately 1 billion euros of which about 90% was exports.
The opening of the plant will be attended by customers and partners all over the world, representatives of the town of Hamina and from Siva Group Mr. Vaidyanathan Srinivasan, chairman of the board, as a representative of the owners Siva Group and Masdar. The guest of honour at the opening is Mr. Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, who will press the button to start the plant.
* Source: The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, Wind power roadmap 2009
Further information:
Ilkka Hakala, CEO, WinWinD Ltd, ilkka.hakala@windwind.fi, phone + 358 400 824 696
About WinWinD
WinWinD Oy manufactures and supplies 1 and 3 MW wind turbines based on low speed technology. The company, founded in 2000, employs almost 800 people globally. In addition to Finland, WinWinD’s turbines produce energy in Sweden, Estonia, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and India. WinWinD is headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and it has assembly lines in Finland and India. The main owners of the company are Siva Group from India, Masdar from Abu Dhabi, and Finnish Industry Investment Ltd.
For more information see www.winwind.fi.
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