Oct 4 2007
American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, today announced that it has signed two licensing contracts with AAER Inc., a Canadian wind turbine manufacturer. Under the terms of the contracts, AMSC's wholly owned Windtec(TM) subsidiary will license to AAER the design for its WT-2000sg, a proprietary 2 megawatt (MW) wind turbine. The licenses provide AAER with the right to manufacture, sell and commission the wind turbines in Canada, the United States, Mexico, France and the United Kingdom.
In addition to multi-million dollar upfront license fees, AMSC will receive royalties for every WT-2000sg wind turbine commissioned by AAER and will sell to AAER the electrical system components essential to the operation of the turbines.
"AMSC's unique design capabilities are an ideal fit for AAER - the first wind turbine manufacturer in Canada," said Dave Gagnon, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAER. "AMSC is enabling us to quickly enter rapidly growing markets with its unique 2 megawatt turbine designs, which we believe will give us a competitive edge in these markets."
The Global Wind Energy Council reports that wind power capacity in North America grew 33 percent in 2006 to 13,062 MW. Wind power in the United Kingdom and France, meanwhile, grew by 48 percent and 107 percent, respectively.
"We are very pleased with the momentum we have continued to build in the global wind energy market," said AMSC founder and chief executive officer Greg Yurek. "AAER is the fourth new customer for our wind turbine designs since we acquired Windtec in January 2007. AAER also marks our first alliance with a North American wind turbine manufacturer. With AAER's expertise and the tremendous growth in wind energy taking place in North America and Europe, I believe this new business relationship will provide additional growth for both of our companies."