French Jeumont drops J48 turbine in favour of larger machines

France's sole manufacturer of utility scale wind turbines, Jeumont, has dropped its J48 750 kW turbine and is instead intending to team up with a foreign partner to build machines of 2 MW and above. Talks with Mitsubishi and one or two German companies are taking place, with an announcement expected in the summer. The J48 is a direct-drive turbine, the same concept successfully developed by German market leader Enercon. Turbines the size of the J48 are no longer in demand, says Jeumont, which is owned by French nuclear giant Framatome ANP. While the company will probably first build turbines under licence from its partner, it hopes eventually to co-develop a new design. The turbines will be constructed in Europe, though not necessarily in France.