TECO Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機), a major local manufacturer of home appliances and telecommunications equipment, yesterday announced a partnership with American Superconductor Corp (AMSC) to explore the wind energy market.
The two companies inked the deal at a news conference in Taipei.
FIRST IN LINE
The deal will make TECO the first Taiwanese company to obtain the technological know-how to produce wind turbine systems and key components, the company said in a statement.
TECO chairman Liu Chao-kai (劉兆凱) said the wind energy market was full of potential and his company hoped to play a role in expanding the sector’s horizons over the next 20 years.
AMSC is a leading global designer and maker of wind energy equipment and components.
TECO estimated that the technological partnership with AMSC would enable it to win a market share valued at more than NT$300 billion (US$9.89 billion) in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia.
TURBINES IN TAIWAN
Liu said Taiwan aims to install 1,000 wind turbines by 2015 — a goal that translates into a business potential of NT$120 billion if each 2 million-watt generator is priced at NT$120 million.
The outlook is positive in China, too, Liu said. Last year China installed wind turbine systems with a total output of 6 billion watts, which it plans to upgrade to 100 billion watts by 2020.
“That means China will need to install 47,000 wind turbine generators in the next 13 years — a substantial business potential,” he said.
LEARNING THE ROPES
Under the deal, TECO will obtain the technology from AMSC to manufacture FC2000 wind turbine systems capable of generating 2 million watts of electricity, TECO said in a statement.
TECO vice chairman Lin Sheng-chuan (林勝泉) said his company would start manufacturing the generators in the US, Taiwan and China next year and sell the products in those markets.
Lin said the company would launch a research and development project to improve wind energy technology and was seeking local firms to join in the effort.
GOVERNMENT HELP
Later in the day, the Council of Economic Planning and Development said the government would offer assistance to companies seeking to develop wind energy technology in a bid to promote the industry.
The government has a short-term goal of seeing the development of key components and a long-term goal of seeing the development of offshore generator systems, council official Chang Wei-chin (張維欽) said.
Chang did not elaborate on the government incentives.
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