By Greentech Lead Europe: TPI Composites, a
global supplier of wind turbine blades and other composite structures and ALKE
INSAAT, a Turkish engineering, manufacturing and construction company, have
formed a joint venture company in Izmir, Turkey, to manufacture large composite
wind turbine blades.
The new joint venture, TPI Kompozit Kanat Sanayi ve
Ticaret A.S., will commence operations immediately from a 355,000-square-foot
building in Izmir. The facility targets to serve the Turkish wind market and to
cost-effectively export blades to southern and eastern Europe and northern
Africa. TPI Composites will control and operate the Turkish joint venture.
“We are excited to take this next step in our
company’s growth by partnering with ALKE to expand our global operations into
Turkey. With its strong industrial and manufacturing base, Turkey will serve as
an excellent hub for our eastern European operations. As the first merchant
wind blade supplier in Turkey, we intend to partner with leading customers in
the region to provide advanced, high-quality, cost-effective wind blades,”
said Steve Lockard, CEO of TPI Composites.
TPI Kompozit will provide blades to key customers based
on multi-year commitments. The JV will initially employ 350 people, and will
triple the number of employees as the wind energy market in Turkey and Eastern
Europe expands.
Turkey’s energy consumption is rising by an average of
8-9 percent per year. Country’s wind market is expected to add 500-1,000 MW per
year reaching more than 5 GW by 2015. It is estimated Turkey will install up to
20 GW by 2023, helping the country to source 30 percent of its electricity
generation from renewable forms of energy by that time.
With this new joint venture, both companies are looking
to expand their business operations to Eastern Europe and Northern
Africa.
“We are pleased to partner with TPI in this venture.
Prior to this JV, the factory we occupied was one of the largest producers of
steel containers in Europe. Now, it will serve as a hub for composite blade
manufacturing. With the growing demand for wind energy in Turkey, this venture
will add value to the community and create many jobs,” said Serdar
Kemaloglu, a board member and CEO of ALKE.