Daewoo signs C$139m manufacturing plant deal and wins $30m Texas order
NORTH AMERICA: South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Ltd. (DSME) will establish a wind turbine tower and blade manufacturing facility at the site of a mothballed railcar plant in Trenton, Nova Scotia after the province agreed to invest C$60 million in the venture.
Daewoo is to build the factory at an mothballed railcar plant
Daewoo and the province will be joint owners of the operation, with Daewoo investing C$20.4 million for a 51% stake and the province contributing C$19.6 million for 49% of the common shares.
The provincial government is also providing C$40 million in loans for new equipment, working capital and the acquisition of land and buildings. Canada’s federal government will kick in C$10 million.
The deal, which has been in the works for more than a year, is expected to create up to 500 jobs over three years, with 120 coming in the first year of operation.
DSME has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Nova Scotia Power to collaborate on wind and tidal power projects that will help meet the province’s target of supplying 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015.
Daewoo’s plan is the second major South Korean investment in Canada’s wind sector. In January, a consortium led by Samsung C&T Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation announced plans to invest C$7 billion in wind and solar development and manufacturing in Ontario.
Separately Daewoo has won an $30million order for 10 2MW turbines for a wind farm in the US state of Texas. The project is planned for the Panhandle region.
