Composite Technology and TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co. Announce Strategic Alliance Agreement
Tuesday November 28, 8:05 am ET
Strategic Alliance Agreement Brings Wind Turbine Manufacturer to Texas
IRVINE, Calif. and ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) (OTC Bulletin Board: CPTC - News) and TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company are pleased to announce the signing of a Strategic Alliance Agreement between the two companies. The Strategic Alliance Agreement sets out the intentions of the companies in the areas of manufacture, research & development, and regarding service & maintenance activities within North America.
ADVERTISEMENT
"This Agreement is expected to lead to a full, turnkey manufacturing relationship that will allow our wind turbine subsidiary, DeWind, Inc., to execute substantial turbine orders for our advanced DeWind D8.2 that we are finalizing," said Benton Wilcoxon, Chairman and CEO of CTC. "By partnering with an exceptionally well qualified manufacturer, it allows us to concentrate on growing the wind turbine business and ensure that the DeWind D8.2 is built to the highest standards needed to make our wind turbines a truly reliable energy source."
Dr. H. C. Meng, President of TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company stated, "We are very excited about this new relationship. We can finally bring wind turbine manufacturing to Texas. It will make the expertise of TECO-Westinghouse available to the wind industry through our involvement in the deployment of the advanced DeWind D8.2 turbine."
"Texas is leading the nation in wind energy production, and the announcement by CTC and TECO-Westinghouse is further evidence of the private sector's commitment to helping meet the growing energy needs of our state," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "New wind energy infrastructure will not only diversify our energy production, it also will help clean up our air and help Texas surpass our renewable energy goals."
The proposed manufacturing agreement provides for TECO-Westinghouse to manufacture the DeWind D8.2 turbine for CTC for distribution to the North American market. The Strategic Alliance Agreement provides for local manufacturing in Texas, the state that currently generates the largest amount of wind derived kilowatts. The DeWind D8.2 will be assembled at the ISO 9000 certified TECO-Westinghouse factory in Round Rock, Texas. Marv Sepe, Vice President of Production at CTC noted: "Partnering with a company capable of assembling the DeWind D8.2 to the highest quality standards, as shown by their ISO 9000 certification is vital to the success of the DeWind D8.2 wind turbine roll out."
TECO-Westinghouse, in partnership with CTC, will use their manufacturing and supply chain expertise to produce nacelles and hubs. "Supply chain control is the key to success for wind turbine manufacturing," said Richard Fesmire, Director of Operations of TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company, "and we intend to use all of our global resources to maintain supply chain efficiency. On the manufacturing side, we will employ time proven cell based manufacturing." TECO-Westinghouse's involvement in the wind industry goes back to the early 1980's when Westinghouse produced some early wind turbine designs. A few of these early turbines are still used as blade testing machines at the National Wind Technology center in Boulder, Colorado.
The Strategic Alliance Agreement also provides for the two companies to cooperate on developing further advances to the DeWind range of wind turbines to improve efficiency and reliability that will maintain technological and engineering leadership. "Our collaboration will bring together the TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company Research & Development Group and the DeWind Research & Development Group to develop advanced generators and electronics for wind turbines and to improve the wind turbines of the future," said Dr. George Gao, Director of Global Research & Development for TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company.
The Strategic Alliance Agreement also outlines a service agreement that will utilize the DeWind expertise along with the TECO-Westinghouse service infrastructure to provide O&M services for the Wind Industry in North America. DeWind and TECO-Westinghouse recognize the need to be able to deliver a customer focused service organization for the Wind Turbine market not only for the new DeWind turbines but also for other manufacturers' turbines in the market. "The service opportunities in North America are tremendous and the choice of service providers is limited in today's market," said Andy Lockhart, Vice President of Marketing for CTC. "Using experience derived from our German service venture, we believe the creation of a North American service organization that will service all models of wind turbine including our own has the potential to develop into a significant profit center for the business." |
