MHI & Vestas Join Hands in Offshore Wind Turbine Business
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has agreed with Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Vestas), a leading manufacturer of wind power generation systems based in Denmark, to establish a new joint-venture company (J/V). Plans call for the arrangement to be in place before the end of March 2014.
The new J/V will be launched taking over and consolidating MHI's and Vestas' current operations in offshore wind turbines. From a head office to be located in Aarhus, Denmark, the company will handle all aspects from development, design, procurement and manufacturing to marketing and after-sale servicing.
The two partners will have equal equity ownership ratios, with Masafumi Wani – Executive Senior Vice President and Head of Power Systems at MHI – serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Jens Tommerup – President of Vestas Asia Pacific & China – filling the position of CEO. Plans call for the new J/V to be inaugurated with an initial workforce of between 300 and 400 employees.
MHI and Vestas will each provide their respective abundant technologies and expertise relating to offshore wind turbines. Plans call for MHI to make an initial investment into the JV of 100 million euros; an additional 200 million euro investment will be carried out based on the J/V's actual business results after startup, making MHI the majority shareholder (MHI: 51%, Vestas: 49%) as of 2016 through exercise of its call option.
The J/V will commence business with Vestas' current 3 MW (megawatt) (V112) and 8 MW (V164) gear type wind turbines. Plans further call for an early market launch of a turbine based on the V164 platform and incorporating MHI's new hydraulic drivetrain, the world's first, known as Digital Displacement® Transmission (DDT).
