Rusnano, Vestas launches production of wind turbine nacelles in Nizhny Novgorod region
NIZHNY NOVGOROD. May 18 (Interfax) - Rusnano and Danish Vestas have localized assembly of wind turbine nacelles at Liebherr production facilities in Nizhny Novgorod region, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday.
In a video address at the ceremony, Rusnano Management Company chief Anatoly Chubais said production of the nacelles was the first step in localizing wind turbine production. The next step will be to produce turbine blades in Ulyanovsk and towers in Rostov-on-Don.
"We are uniting all of this in a Russian startup: Vetronergetika," Chubais said, pointing out that the government has set twin goals: construction of wind farms and production of the equipment for them in Russia.
"It is an instance when the longstanding efforts of state officials are in full accord with the vector of the interests of business," he said.
The project will attract about 5 million euro to the region and create over 30 jobs, the acting governor of Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, said at the ceremony.
The assembly facility will have capacity for 250 megawatts a year, Vestas Executive Vice President and COO Jean-Marc Lechene said. Vestas plans to create a network of local Russian suppliers that will raise the level of localization, he added.
Vestas was selected as the global technology partner of the Wind Energy Development Fund of Finnish Fortum and Rusnano. In June 2017, the fund received the right to build up to 1 GW of wind energy capacity in 2018-2022 from the selection of renewable energy projects.
Under the state program to support renewable energy, Russia will add 3.35 GW of wind capacity to production by 2024. Wind farms will be built in Rostov and Ulyanovsk regions, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories and Tatarstan. The first 35-MW wind farm in Ulyanovsk entered service this year.