Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Wind power company Vestas picks Metro West for R&D site

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S reported that it will open a research and development facility at an unnamed location in the Metro West region of Massachusetts.

The new facility is expected to develop generators, converters and control technologies for next-generation wind turbines, and work in cooperation with the company’s technology centers in Houston, Asia, India and Europe.

According to a company statement, the core team at the new hub will come from Lunenburg-based ePower LLC, a developer of power motor and generator technology founded out of the National Magnet Lab at MIT in 2005. Vestas recently acquired ePower for an undisclosed amount.

Massachusetts has been working closely with Vestas for more than a year. The state was a possible location for the company’s research and development headquarters last spring, but Vestas eventually chose Texas. However, the placement of a “satellite” R&D facility here in the Bay State, combined with the Department of Energy’s decision to place a wind blade testing facility in Charlestown, has the state “poised to become a national leader in wind technology,” according to a statement from Ian Bowles, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environment.

The announcement also comes on the heels of Vestas’ announcement that it will place its North American corporate headquarters in Portland, Ore., where it already maintains administrative offices.

Vestas employs more than 15,000 people worldwide and is the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world. The company reported more than $7.6 billion in revenue in 2007, and its products account for as much as one-third of the world’s wind power, according to company documents.