REpower Systems AG, a German manufacturer of wind turbines, and SE Drive Technik GmbH, a subsidiary of REpower's major shareholder Suzlon Energy Ltd., have created the Renewable Energy Technology Centre GmbH (RETC) in Hamburg, in which each firm holds a 50% stake. The aim of the RETC is to combine forces and to cooperate strategically in the field of research and technical training in the future, according to REpower.
Product development and technical services will be carried out by both companies independently of one another. A global operating center will focus on research, innovation, training, validation and technical processes.
‘In RETC, we intend to implement innovative projects concerned, for example, with new materials and manufacturing processes, with increasing efficiency or with new drive concepts – in short, with everything that will significantly influence the development of the next REpower turbine generation,’ says Matthias Schubert, REpower's chief technical officer.
As part of RETC, an academy offering high-quality technical training and qualification schemes is also due to be established, initially on the basis of collaborations with universities.
The new company will be headquartered in Hamburg and there are plans to establish international subsidiaries of RETC, according to REpower.
