TPI Composites and ALKE Launch Wind Blade Joint Venture in Turkey

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. and IZMIR, Turkey, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TPI Composites, Inc. a global supplier of wind turbine blades and other composite structures with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, and ALKE INSAAT, an engineering, manufacturing and construction company headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, have formed a joint venture company in Izmir, Turkey to manufacture large composite wind turbine blades. 

The new joint venture, TPI Kompozit Kanat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., will commence operations immediately from a 355,000-square-foot building in Izmir. With convenient access to both land and water transportation, the facility is located to serve the Turkish wind market and to cost-effectively export blades to southern and eastern Europe and northern Africa.

Having manufactured tens of thousands of high-quality wind blades over a decade in North America and China, TPI Composites will control and operate the Turkish joint venture. 

TPI Kompozit will provide blades to key customers based on multi-year commitments. The JV will initially employ 350 people with the opportunity to triple the number of employees as the wind energy market in Turkey and eastern Europe expands. 

"We are excited to take this next step in our company's growth by partnering with ALKE to expand our global operations into Turkey," said Steve Lockard, CEO of TPI Composites. "With its strong industrial and manufacturing base, Turkey will serve as an excellent hub for our eastern European operations. As the first merchant wind blade supplier in Turkey, we intend to partner with leading customers in the region to provide advanced, high-quality, cost-effective wind blades."

Serdar Kemaloglu, a board member and CEO of ALKE, added, "We are pleased to partner with TPI in this venture. Prior to this JV, the factory we occupied was one of the largest producers of steel containers in Europe. Now, it will serve as a hub for composite blade manufacturing. With the growing demand for wind energy in Turkey, this venture will add value to the community and create many jobs." 

Turkey's energy consumption is rising by an average of 8-9 percent per year. The country is turning to renewable energy sources as a means to improve its energy security and curb dependence on imported gas. The country's new feed-in-tariff, including incentives for local content, combined with attractive merchant market electricity prices are supporting a high growth wind energy market.

Energy experts believe Turkey's wind market may add 500-1,000 MW per year reaching more than 5 GW by 2015. It is estimated Turkey will install up to 20 GW by 2023, helping the country to source 30 percent of its electricity generation from renewable forms of energy by that time.

ABOUT TPI COMPOSITES, INC. -- TPI Composites is a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based global provider of wind turbine blades and other advanced structural composites products.  TPI delivers high-quality, cost effective composite solutions through long term partnerships with the industry's leading manufacturers.  The company and its 2,000 employees are also expert innovators in the transportation and military vehicle markets. TPI operates factories throughout the U.S., Mexico, China and Turkey. For more information on TPI, go to www.tpicomposites.com.

ABOUT ALKE CONSTRUCTION IND. & TRADE INC. -- ALKE is one of the leading construction contractors in Turkey specialized in turnkey construction of dams & hydroelectric powerplants, highways, tunnels, forced water mains, big scale water treatment plants, football stadiums, hotels and luxury residential buildings, since 1955.  It has over 2,500 employees.  ALKE has completed major projects in Russia, Romania, Kazakhstan, the Sultanate of Oman, and Kyrgyzstan.  ALKE is also active in wind energy business in erection of wind-farms and manufacturing tubular steel towers, and composite blades. Please visit www.alke.com.tr for more information.

PRESS CONTACT
Hannah McCoy
TPI Composites, Inc.
8501 N. Scottsdale Rd, Suite 280
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
(480) 305-8917 office
[email protected] 

SOURCE TPI Composites, Inc.