Wind turbine manufacturer opens new facility in Singapore

Lynn Kan Business Times 8 Apr 11;

LEADING wind turbine manufacturer, Spain's Gamesa, launched its new R&D centre and commercialisation office here yesterday - despite Singapore's lack of a wind energy market.

Rather, Gamesa chairman Jorge Calvet chose Singapore to tap on its 'intellectual and engineering capabilities' in materials and coatings, a research area of importance because composite materials are used in turbines.

The Gamesa Advanced Materials Research Centre, currently housed at Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Research Techno Plaza, will employ more than 30 engineers by 2014.

The centre will move to CleanTech Park when the 50-hectare eco-business facility in Jurong is completed.

It will soon kick-start collaborations with researchers from NTU, the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

Mr Calvet said there is every likelihood that the research will start commercialisation within the next 18 to 24 months.

NTU has agreed to work on two projects with Gamesa to work on blade coatings and how to incorporate these materials into Gamesa's manufacturing line.

NUS will develop methods to monitor embedded smart sensors in turbine blades, that can relay any detected damage to the blade to engineers off-site.

The technology will be useful because turbines can be in far- flung, inaccessible areas, and currently require inspection by engineers.

Furthermore, damage - harder to detect in composite materials than metals - occurs due to exposure to harsh environments.

Said NUS' vice-dean (research) in the faculty of engineering, Tay Tong Earn: 'If you can detect damage, then you would need to repair only when necessary. It saves on manpower and time that translates into cost.'

Mr Calvet stressed that wind energy has an increasingly significant role within the energy market, in light of the disruptions to oil supply caused by unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and complications with nuclear power in Japan following the 9.0-scale earthquake.

Gamesa's new commercial office, says Mr Calvet, will look after markets in South-east Asia. Recently, Gamesa opened a wind farm in Sri Lanka and also sold turbines to New Zealand.

Mr Calvet expects Gamesa's Asian derived revenue to burgeon further. In 2010, between 42 and 45 per cent of its revenue came from India and China.

'South-east Asia is a promising market,' said Mr Calvet. 'Any country keen to have wind (energy), we will look at, no matter how big or small.'

Spanish wind giant Gamesa sets up research lab in NTU
Jessica Cheam Straits Times 8 Apr 11;

SINGAPORE may not have high wind speeds to speak of but that is not stopping high-flying wind firms from setting up here.

Spanish wind giant Gamesa is the latest to set up a research and development (R&D) laboratory here.

At the opening ceremony yesterday, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research to develop cutting-edge wind-technology applications.

Speaking at the launch, Gamesa chairman Jorge Calvet said the advanced materials research centre, housed in NTU's Research Techno Plaza, is its first in South-east Asia.

'Being a technology company, we want to be at the forefront of our industry. Our partnership with Singapore's institutions will help us to achieve that, especially in advanced materials research,' he said.

In 18 to 24 months, Gamesa could start to see Singapore-developed applications put into its manufacturing process 'so customers can take advantage of the R&D we're doing here'.

Gamesa has so far pledged $1 million to NTU for projects that it is working on, with collaborations with the other institutions still being finalised.

The firm's scientists and engineers will be working on, for example, research into wind turbine blade coatings to withstand extreme conditions with NTU, and using smart sensors to monitor the performance of materials used in wind turbines with NUS.

It intends to employ more than 30 engineers in the R&D centre by 2014.

NTU president-designate Bertil Andersson said the collaboration 'will be instrumental in bringing valuable academic research' in sustainability to the wider market.

Economic Development Board assistant managing director Yeoh Keat Chuan said Gamesa's move 'reflects well on Singapore's strengths as a location for wind-energy research, namely, strong R&D infrastructure, skilled cosmopolitan workforce and favourable intellectual-property protection'.

Other investments here include Norwegian wind service firm DNV, which opened a clean-technology centre last year, and Danish wind-power firm Vestas investing $500 million in a research centre in 2008.