Mitsubishi/TPI wind blade plant opens in Juarez, Mexico

VienTek LLC, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas Inc. (MPS) and TPI Composites Inc. (TPI), opened its second wind blade manufacturing plant in Juarez, Mexico.

With the opening of its second plant, VienTek adds 131,000 square feet to its existing 346,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The company now employs more than 900 people in Ciudad Juarez. Since its formation in 2002, VienTek has produced more than 4,000 wind turbine blades for supply to MPS.

VienTek manufactures 30M class blades for the Mitsubishi’s MWT62 turbine and has begun to manufacture 45M class blades for its MWT92 and MWT95 turbines. VienTek manufactures blades using TPI’s patented SCRIMP process technology, a highly advanced form of vacuum infusion.

Addressing more than 650 VienTek employees and guests who attended the opening ceremony, Noriaki Fuseya san, CEO of MPS, said, “I would like to pay my great tribute and extend my congratulations to the entire VienTek team on the successful completion of their factory expansion. I am sure that this new facility combined with the existing one will become the stronghold for Vientek to grow toward the future and to enhance the competitive strength of our overall wind turbine business. We appreciate very much the relationship that we have built up with TPI and Vientek since its inception and look forward to a great future working closely together.”

“In April of this year, MPS committed to expanding our wind turbine capacity to 1200MW per year,” said Ichiro Itoh, senior vice president of MPS. “We are fulfilling this commitment and were thrilled to see VienTek‘s second plant open its doors last week.”

“We are very fortunate to be participating in such an exciting growth industry.” said Steven C. Lockard, president and chief executive officer of TPI and VienTek. “We are grateful for the commitment that our partner Mitsubishi has made to being a major supplier of wind turbines to the North American market.”