AMSC signs wind turbine contract

American Superconductor (AMSC) has signed a contract worth more than $100m (£63m) to supply core electrical components for Beijing-based company Sinovel’s 3MW wind turbines, known as the SL3000.

AMSC expects to begin shipping sets of the core components, which include the company’s proprietary Powermodule PM3000W power converter, under the contract in March 2010 and to complete all shipments by the end of 2011.

Sinovel is China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer and expects to be the world’s fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer by the end of 2009.

With a 300ft rotor diameter, Sinovel’s SL3000 is China’s most powerful domestically produced wind turbine. The company has already erected several 3MW turbines off the coast of Shanghai for the Shanghai Donghai Bridge Wind Farm, China’s first offshore wind farm.

This is the second order AMSC has received from Sinovel for 3MW core electrical components and follows an $18m (£11m) contract that was signed in early 2008.

At the end of 2008, China had an installed wind power capacity of approximately 12,000MW. In its June 2009 report, industry research firm Emerging Energy Research projected that China’s wind power installed base would exceed 200,000MW by 2020.