September 30 - Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have agreed to a joint venture dedicated to offshore wind energy projects.
Vestas will transfer the development of its V164-8.0 MW turbine, its V112 offshore order book, existing offshore service contracts and approximately 300 employees to the JV. MHI will contribute EUR100 million (USD135 million) cash to the venture, plus a further EUR200 million (USD270 million) dependent on the achievement of certain performance milestones.
The JV will be headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark. Masafumi Wani will become chairman of the board of directors (currently executive senior vice president and head of power systems at MHI); Anders Runevad has been named vice chairman (currently group president and ceo of Vestas); while Jens Tommerup has been appointed ceo of the JV (currently president of Vestas Asia Pacific & China).
Under the agreement both parties hold a 50 percent stake in the venture. An option to change the ownership ratio to 51 percent in favour of MHI and 49 percent for Vestas can be activated in April 2016.
According to a Vestas statement, the main markets for offshore wind turbines that it will target are the North Sea coastal countries, particularly the UK and Germany.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and should close during March 2014.
