April 28, 2010
Suzlon enters Joint Venture with Volkswind to develop wind energy market in Bulgaria
Aarhus: Suzlon Wind Energy A/S the European division of Suzlon Energy Limited, the
worlds third* leading wind turbine maker has entered into a joint venture with Volkswind
Bulgaria GmbH through the company DIV Wind OO.
Volkswind Bulgaria is a subsidiary of Germanys Volkswind GmbH, one of the leading
Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Europe, and with over 40 wind farms it is also one of
the largest operators of wind farms in Germany.
The joint venture is aimed to accelerate Suzlons growth into the Bulgarian wind energy
market combining Volkswinds local knowledge and development experience with Suzlons
expertise in developing utility scale projects. The joint venture will develop projects
exclusively using Suzlon wind turbines.
Speaking on the project, Mr. Erik Winther Pedersen, CEO - Suzlon Wind Energy A/S said,
This marks the beginning of a long-term partnership with Volkswind Bulgaria GmbH, and is
a very important step in our strategy to expand our project development activities into new
regions. Suzlon already has a 13 MW project under construction in Bulgaria for a leading
industrial client, and I believe that our new relationship with Volkswind will help us grow
Bulgarias wind industry even further.
Dr. Malte Huchzermeier, Director - Volkswind Bulgaria GmbH, said, Suzlons existing
infrastructure and experience from already erected turbines in Bulgaria will be beneficial for
the development process. We are looking forward to building successful projects with
Suzlon.
Bulgaria offers one of the most attractive wind markets in Eastern Europe, and is expected
to achieve 500 MW of wind energy capacity by the end of 2010, with a target of more than
3,000 MW by 2020. The market is supported by competitive feed-in tariffs of approximately
0.096 EUR for the first 2250 hours/year and 0.088 EUR KW/h for the following hours
guaranteed for 15 years.
