Siemens and E.ON move wind "from boutique to industrialisation"

Two of the leading players in Germany's booming wind energy industry yesterday announced one of the sectors largest ever supply deals with energy company E.ON agreeing to buy 500 turbines from engineering conglomerate Siemens.

Dr Frank Mastiaux, chief executive of E.ON's climate and renewables division, hailed the deal as a "major milestone" in the company's supply chain strategy, adding that it represented "a significant step in the industry's journey from boutique to industrialisation".

Under the terms of the deal, Siemens will deliver 500 turbines between 2010 and 2011 in a range of different height and rotor diameters, but with each providing a capacity of 2.3MW. In total, 1.15GW of capacity is to be delivered with 600MW going to projects in the US and the remaining 550MW to be installed in Europe.

The two firms have also agreed to co-operate on a range of research projects designed to improve turbine efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.

The news comes just days after developments in the US further highlighted the growing maturity of the industry. US wind farm developer National Wind LLC announced it has completed its acquisition of investment banking firm Delphi Financial as part of a strategy designed to bolster its ability to raise capital for new projects.

National Wind's chief executive Leon Steinberg admitted it was "strange" for a wind farm developer to buy an investment firm, but argued that the company's strategy of offering local land owners the opportunity to invest in wind farm projects meant that the acquisition of a registered broker-dealer made a lot of sense.