With an anticipated growth rate of 90 to 100 percent in 2009, Southwest Windpower, the world’s largest manufacturer of small wind generators, is expanding internationally to increase production, distribution and better meet customer demand, including a joint venture in China and a new warehouse and distribution center in Germany.
Southwest Windpower seized the opportunity to develop a strong presence in China by partnering with Yun Sheng, a Bei Jeng-based manufacturing company who has been producing component parts for several Southwest Windpower products for the last four years. The joint venture - Ningbo Air-Yun Sheng Windpower - will produce Southwest Windpower’s Air X product beginning in early 2009. The 400 watt Air X wind generator is a solution that can help power China’s rural electrification project, the largest such project in the world. Currently more than 15 million inhabitants in China have no access to basic electricity -– and with the government’s commitment to resolve the majority of these insufficiencies by 2015, there is significant need for such products in China.
For the past year, Southwest Windpower has been developing relationships in China and CEO Frank Greco is confident in the Air X’s ability to penetrate the market, “We’ve been meeting with the government agencies and testing the Air X against competitive Chinese turbines. At the end of the day, our product speaks for itself and we’re very excited about our future in the Chinese market.” Southwest Windpower projects that 10,000 – 15,000 turbines will be manufactured and sold by the joint venture in 2009.
Additionally, Southwest Windpower just announced the opening of its first European office in Cologne, Germany, which will manage sales, shipping and distribution of its products across Europe. After successful test installations across Europe over the last year, the award-winning Skystream 3.7™ – the first small wind generator designed for utility-connected, residential use – has begun shipping in the UK, Germany and Spain. To date, 3000 units have been shipped. Southwest Windpower expects that by the end of 2009 the German office will also support the Middle East and Africa.
Greco says that this is just the beginning of Southwest Windpower’s expansion: “We are exploring opportunities in India and possibly Korea. We anticipate the demand for renewable energy solutions in both Europe and the U.S. will continue to grow. We believe we have a revolutionary product that directly meets a consumer need – there is no limit to where we can go.”
The company is also poised for aggressive domestic growth. In October, as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424, a federal-level tax credit for qualified small wind turbines was approved, providing up to $4,000 in rebate funds for units installed through 2016. The U.S. small wind industry projects that this federal credit, combined with a forthcoming equipment certification program and the Obama administration, will help create thousands of new jobs and could foster U.S. market growth of more than 40 percent annually.
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