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As European wind turbine makers look to the United States as a source of new business opportunities, one Vermont commercial-scale turbine maker is hoping to build on early success in Europe with its first international beachhead in Zurich.
Northern Power Systems has already booked about 5 million euros, or $7.28 million, in orders for its 100 kilowatt turbines across Europe, and company officials say a dedicated sales staff will further drive the company’s recent success.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to expand.” said Jim Stover, vice president of global marketing and project management for the Barre-based company. “We are seeing tremendous growth, largely driven by incentives like feed-in tariffs,” which require utilities to buy renewable energy at rates higher than the market would set.
The Swiss office will house sales, services and applications engineering and support to its current Italian and U.K.-based companies, as well as a launch point to new sales in countries like Germany, which also has feed-in tariffs. The 100 kilowatt turbines currently sold will continue to be manufactured in Vermont.
It has also made a concerted push into the Canadian wind market, albeit without a physical presence, through orders with groups in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
Like several other New England wind turbine developers, Northern Power’s turbine is designed to serve so-called “community wind” projects. These projects generally benefit communities through municipal light companies, schools, institutions or large corporate parks rather than utilities. The company uses permanent magnet direct drive turbine technology that the company claims captures more energy without using a gearbox.
As the credit crunch and uncertain tax incentive programs in the U.S. crimped sales of utility scale turbines, those usually one megawatt or more, community-scale wind has caught on domestically and abroad.
“In some ways, we’re very fortunate we are where we are. The stimulus allows community projects to access the 30 percent grant to fund projects,” Stover said, compared with a production tax credit available to only for-profit entities.
But the company is not only interested in mid-size wind projects. It is finishing development of a 2.2 megawatt turbine unit that puts Northern Power in direct competition with some of the largest companies in the space, including General Electric Co. and Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems. While the downturn forced some wind firms like Vestas to cut jobs, Stover said Northern Power used the time to work with its suppliers to streamline operations.
Both community-scale and utility-scale wind deployments are expected to accelerate moving forward, pushing higher wind generation capacity in both the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. is by far the fastest growing market for wind, adding 8,500 megawatts of capacity in 2008 and 5,000 megawatts expected to be added in 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Europe, while experiencing slower growth, is a much bigger market — an expected 1 percent uptick in installed wind will add 8,600 megawatts of power to the European Union, according to the European Wind Energy Association.
The company was founded in Warren, Vt., in 1974 as North Wind Power Company, developing wind turbines and off-grid hybrid power systems. The operation was acquired by Wind Power Holdings LLC in 2008 and Northern Power received $50 million in investment from Boston-based venture capital firm RockPort Capital Partners and New York investment bank Allen & Co.
That investment combined with increased sales, Stover said, will allow Northern Power to grow to roughly 150 people this year, compared with about 75 employees when the company was acquired last year.
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